Netanya mourns gas blast victims
Three teenage girls were on way to hand out Sabbath candles when blast occurred, says rabbi. Friend: They were angels known for good deeds
A 16-year old girl killed in the Netanya gas explosion Thursday night was laid to rest Friday afternoon at a local cemetery. Two other girls were killed along with her, and the fourth victim was 28-year-old Mohammed Abu Ata from Wadi Ara.
Police cleared the names of the three girls for publication late Friday. They are Rivka Masihid, 17, Rivka Durai, 18, and Stacey Brook, 17. All were residents of the city.
More than 2,000 people gathered Friday night at a site established for the commemoration of the girls. "The angels were known for their good deeds and dedication… They have gone to a better place," one of their friends wrote on the wall.
Officers investigating the case have found that the girls, a group of friends, were apparently killed after picking up Sabbath candles from the local Chabad center, which they planned to hand out to city residents.
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"On Fridays and holidays the girls hand out Sabbath candles, and today they were supposed to hand them out too… My daughter is still in shock. She's crying all the time."
Rabbi Yaakov Mazuz, who runs the Netanya Chabad center, told Ynet the girls would attend French-language classes in the city center. "We're really broken up about this," he said.
Mazuz added that he had seen them at class on Thursday evening, and that they had later gone to eat and then hand out candles. "According to what I heard yesterday, after they went out to eat they started to hand out candles and then this horrible incident happened," he said.
"These are young girls – holy souls, great souls. All of Netanya was at the funeral, they entire French community. Everyone knows the family, they are good and quiet people."
Meanwhile, Abu Ata's brother told Ynet that he had become engaged to be married six months ago. "A week ago he bought a suit for his wedding, which was supposed to take place in a few months," said Awad Abu Ata.
The brother, who had been called to identify his sibling's body, said Abu Ata had worked at a restaurant in the building damaged by the gas blast.
'No one knows when we can go back home'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar Friday afternoon to express his condolences for the city's loss. He said he had appointed the director-general of his office, Eyal Gabai, to assist Netanya in getting back on track.
Fierberg-Ikar also expressed her condolences to the victims' families Friday. "We are proud of the solidarity shown by the city's residents," she said. The statement issued by her office added that the municipality is in touch with the authorities "in order to solve the problems of insured as well as uninsured residents" of the building destroyed by the blast.
Many of the residents took up the municipality's offer to stay at local hotels Friday, and a number said they would stay with relatives.
Increasing the difficulties is the language barrier, as many of the residents are French immigrants who can barely speak Hebrew or English. A number of translators have volunteered to help.
"I just want to go in to see what's left," one resident told a social worker present at the scene. "I don't know how we'll get through these coming days," another said, referring to the Sabbath. "No one knows when we'll be able to go back home."
The blast, which occurred 20 minutes after midnight, injured 90 people, four of whom are still hospitalized. Police continue to investigate allegations made by residents, who say they called the municipality a number of times Thursday evening to complain about a possible gas leak in the building, after smelling gas.
The two suspects arrested in connection with the explosion – a PazGaz technician who reportedly inspected the building's gas tanks mere hours before the deadly blast and a man spotted in the vicinity of the building and later arrested on suspicion of metal theft – were remanded on Friday and will remain in police custody for now.
Lior Papirblat, Yair Altman, Hassan Shaalan, Yoav Zitun, and Roi Mandel contributed to this report
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