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CNN Live At Daybreak
Aftermath of the Pool Hall Bombing in Israel
Aired May 08, 2002 - 05:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Want to go now live to Israel and Rishon Letzion where that suicide bomber struck a suburban pool hall killing 15 people and injuring dozens of others. Our Carol Lin is in the Israeli community.
Good morning, Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, right now we're about 15 miles away from the next major city which is Tel Aviv, and this is literally the scene of where it happened. And what we've gathered for you here are a couple of pieces to give you an idea of the force of this blast. This is essentially a lug bolt that you might find anywhere in the world. The explosive device, the bomb itself was loaded with these and this is the impact of what can happen. Essentially what they -- what happened during the blast, they became a series of flying bullets that injured more than 60 people and killed at least 15 at this point.
Right behind me is the scene of where the blast took place. You can see a gathering of people there just beyond that gold light stand that fell from the ceiling. That is literally where the suicide bomber opened up a suitcase filled with explosives, and upon opening it, triggered the explosion. There's blood everywhere over there, evidence of this massive terrorist attack. When we came up the stairway, Carol, you saw the evidence of people who had been injured fleeing for their lives. There's blood all along the staircase, even a shoe from one of the victims left behind.
This is the worst terrorist attack in a month since the last terrorist attack in the city of Jerusalem in a marketplace. And the way it was described to me is at about 11:00 last night on this third story gambling parlor, it was filled with pool tables and slot machines, a man walked up three flights of stairs, passed very little security there. He had a suitcase in his hand.
The significance of this is that usually in Israel you find that the upper stories are the safer place to be. But more interestingly in this dynamic, in this particular club, most people knew each other so they didn't have a security guard at the door. And what people here are telling me is that if he came up and made it all the way to the back of the room with this suitcase, it's because the other patrons in this establishment recognized him as a regular customer. This clearly took a lot of planning. Now as we speak, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is on a plane flying back from his trip to Washington, D.C. This blast occurred just as the president of the United States and Ariel Sharon were meeting to talk about what solutions for peace there might be in this region. Also we've learned this morning that the chief of staff of the Israeli army is meeting now with the -- with the commanders to try to figure out what to do.
Just a few days ago he had said that if there was a new suicide bombing, yet another suicide bombing after the tanks had pulled back from the West Bank that more action would be taken, that the army would go back in and launch even more military action in the West Bank. We do not know yet if a decision has been made in that regard, but clearly the people of this community are absolutely shocked that something like this could happen here.
Joining me right now in fact is the mayor of Rishon Letzion. His name is Mayor Nitzen -- Mr. Mayor.
MEIR NITZEN, MAYOR OF RISHON LETZION, ISRAEL: Good morning.
LIN: Good morning, I wish it was a better morning for you. I know you were up all night.
NITZEN: I hope so because we have morbid (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LIN: Have you been able to talk with some of the victims' families? We understand 15 dead, more than 60 injured.
NITZEN: No, we got 60, 70 (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but we know the tragedy of families. For example, we know that the two parents of two small children, less than 10, were killed here.
LIN: Both parents of these two kids?
NITZEN: Both parents, yes.
LIN: Where are these kids now?
NITZEN: We are taking care of them, and we are searching their family, their grandfather and grandma and so on. It's very complicated (ph).
LIN: That tells you the situation.
NITZEN: How to tell to little children that their both parents die -- were killed in such a cruel attack?
LIN: You arrived on the scene shortly after this happened.
NITZEN: Yes, I (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
LIN: I heard a story from a father of one of the managers here. He said the only thing that saved his son who was here at the time of the blast was the force of the blast flipped up one of the pool tables that shielded him from these bolts... NITZEN: From those bolts, yes.
LIN: ... that were flying through the air here.
NITZEN: Yes. Yes.
LIN: What are some of the stories that you are hearing from some of the eyewitnesses who were here at the time?
NITZEN: Look, I am so a part (ph) of the people injured on the parking lot downstairs, they flew out through the window.
LIN: People flew out of the window?
NITZEN: Flew out of the window and fall in the floor of the parking lot and were injured, a part (ph) of them very hard (ph) and was full with blood and all this area. The terrorist itself, what I saw, remained only his upper part of his body. His legs and the other part we found it outside this morning only. That is terrible because I can tell you that we'll have no resolve. We shall be here (ph). We should continue to live in Israel.
LIN: Well as you know,...
NITZEN: We should continue to fight if it's a need. Why'd you do it?
LIN: Prime Minister -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is on his way back from the United States. The chief of staff is meeting with the army right now to try to figure out whether there will be more military action resuming the incursion into the West Bank. Has that been a solution so far?
NITZEN: I...
LIN: Is this evidence that...
NITZEN: That has -- we have to act in two parallel race. We have to fight terror like there's no peace possible. We have to continue to have peace conversation like terror doesn't exist.
LIN: So you believe that the conversations toward the peace plan should still go on?
NITZEN: Still go on, but we have to fight in the same time the terror.
LIN: That is why we call it a cycle of violence. Thank you very much Mr. Mayor.
NITZEN: Yes, thank you. Thank you.
LIN: Appreciate the time that you've given us.
NITZEN: Thank you for coming to visit.
LIN: Thank you very much.
Well, Carol, that is the situation here and that is very similar to what we've been hearing from many Israelis. You've got to be tough on terror but at the same time you've got to keep the dialog going. But the question for the Palestinians is, who still live under closures in much of the West Bank, when is life really going to change for them? And what Palestinians have told me in the West Bank is that this is an example of a frustration of a people who are still fighting for a statehood.
Saeb Erakat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinians, has condemned this attack in the strongest possible terms. And he is saying that the Palestinian Authority will pursue the suspects for as long as it takes to bring them to justice -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Carol Lin.
And of course as we told you at the top of the 5:00 hour, there was another suicide bomber who blew himself up at a bus station about 19 miles southeast of Haifa. And we understand he was the only one killed. We'll have more on that a little later.
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