US girl survives freak accident at border

Arab girl visiting from US caught in suitcase conveyer belt; screaming child treated by IDF at scene, hospitalized at Jerusalem hospital. Family sues Israel's Airport Authority

Reuven Weiss|Published: 04.01.11 , 20:09

Girl survives freak accident: A four-year-old Arab girl who arrived in Israel with her family from the US was caught in a suitcase conveyer belt and narrowly escaped death, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday

The shocking mishap took place at the Allenby border crossing; the girl's family resides in California at this time and visited Jordan before arriving in Israel to meet relatives.

After crossing into Israel and while waiting for the luggage, the girl's hand and jacket were caught in the conveyor belt. The young child was dragged by the belt while screaming and suffering untold pain, virtually scorching her arm, neck, leg and back.

The conveyer belt was finally brought to a halt and an IDF medical team at the site offered the girl initial treatment. Later she was taken by ambulance to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. She is currently hospitalized at the medical facility and is suffering terrible pains, her father said.

The girl's troubles did not end there, as she was not insured and now must pay the hospital NIS 100,000 shekels for the initial treatment and first two days of hospitalization. Moreover, she is now expected to undergo a long hospitalization and skin implants.

An attorney on behalf of the injured child submitted an urgent request for an Israeli court to order the Airport Authority, which is in charge of Israel's border crossings, to pay for the girl's medical treatments. In its response, the Authority said that despite the many warning signs at the site, the child was left unattended by her parents, and that the conveyer belt was stopped immediately after the girl was caught in it.

Yisrael Moskowitz contributed to the story