Senior Warden Sigal Duek saw 36 Prison Service course cadets and staff members burn in front of her eyes, and is struggling to shake off the trauma.
Her brother, Tomer Gamdani, told Ynet on Wednesday that his sister had recounted the disaster before him. "I saw the cadets burn in front of my very eyes. I stared death in the face," she said. To her husband she had confessed, "I love you all", certain she would not survive the fire.
Duek started her career in the Prison Service as a warden at the Neve Tirtza Prison, and excelled in her studies at the Prison Service officers' course. At 36 she was promoted to senior warden. "She loved the Prison Service and the work," her brother said.
Sigal was not meant to board the cadets bus which headed towards the Damon Prison last Thursday, as she is a married mother of two children aged five and two. However, another female officer asked her to go in her place and Duek agreed.
Sigal related the story of what had happened on the bus to her family: "We drove down the Beit Oren road and while driving noticed private vehicles which were making u-turns because of the flames and the heavy smoke. One of the officers stepped down to direct the bus while it made a u-turn and then the fire hit the bus. It started burning."
Sigal said the fire spread quickly. "The fire reached the front of the bus and it started going up in flames. I yelled to the cadets to get off immediately. The back door was jammed and the cadets broke it open. When we got off we ran away from the bus."
Sigal's brother's Tomer said that photographer Roni Sofer saved Sigal and two other cadets who were with her. The three got in his car and drove off as the flames surrounded the area.
"It was all a matter of seconds," the brother noted. "The cadets who were with her helped her run and then she jumped on the car's windshield and yelled 'save us, save us.' She told us she felt the heavy heat on her body as the fire quickly spread. Some of the cadets managed to escape the bus but the fire got hold of them and burned them alive. Had the photographer not been there she and the other cadets would not have made it and would have burned alive like their friends."
Sigal and a cadet minutes after the disaster (Photo: Avishag Shaar Yeshuv)
'God saved her from the flames'
Tomer serves in the National Traffic Police in Central Israel. During the disaster he accompanied Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen to the fire command post. "Earlier, Sigal had sent a message saying they were going to reinforce the Damon Prison. I knew she was on the way. While I was accompanying the commissioner I heard that the bus had turned over. I tried calling her but couldn't get through.
"My family also tried and failed to reach her. When we were done escorting the commissioner I said I was staying there until I knew what had happened. On the way I stopped the car. I had to drink something. I waited at the Atlit Junction. A fireman told me there were more than 11 burned bodies. I was worried. The whole family was worried, anxious. "
Tomer said he feared for his sister's life. "At one point I phoned her and got the answering machine. I told myself that it's a good sign that I got the answering service. After a few minutes she phoned me back all rattled and said she got to Damon Prison and is scared that the flames would burn down the prison as well. In prison she managed to talk to a social worker. They then escorted her out. We hugged tight and she cried and said how afraid she was and all that had happened. God saved her from the flames; seeing everything burning all around they ran and saw the photographer. She stared death in the face and was sure she was going to burn to death."
The bus's remains (Photo: Avishag Shaar Yeshuv)
Brother hurt in terrorist attack
Sigal's father also arrived at the Atlit Junction where he met her. "We picked her up and took her to our parents' house. She stayed over for Shabbat. Our family has had its share of traumas, we're a tight bunch where everyone helps each other," Tomer said.
One of those traumas occurred when Tomer himself was seriously injured in a terrorist attack near the training base Mahane 80. He was on routine duty when officers detected a suspect car. Upon examining the vehicle a terrorist stepped out and started firing all around.
The other terrorist fled with the car and eventually detonated himself. Tomer was severely injured but after a period of recovery returned to the police force.
He said that his sister's physical state was good, but that the same cannot be said about her mental state. "On Saturday she said the benediction of deliverance. Despite the great trauma she has suffered, she's strong and on Sunday went to Paviola Bohadana's funeral. She also went to the cadets' shivas. It's hard for her but she feels obligated to visit the families and comfort them."
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