 June 18, 2002 Bus Bombing Outside ORT School |
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Only 250 meters separate the ORT Spanien Religious High School from the Patt Junction in Jerusalem, scene
of a suicide bomb attack on June 18, 2002. The bomb went off as students were in the midst of Shacharit.
After attendance was taken and despite staff attempts to contain students on campus for fear of a second
explosion, many students took off to assist in the rescue operations. Over 150 of the ORT Spanien students use the same bus route as the one destroyed. School staff and faculty were busy all morning to ascertain that all students were safe. The result - one student suffered medium wounds and another was lightly wounded. School leadership decided to extend the school year until mid-July (instead of June 20th) with staff and faculty volunteering their time. This came after students voice their fear from insecurity at home or on the streets over the summer and indicated they prefer to be with their friends in school. The school has arranged for secure bus transportation and parents and graduates have voluneered to drive students from remote areas. The only remaining difficulty is that the school does not have the budget to extend the security measures which are paid for by the municipality of Jerusalem. On another note, a graduate of the Spanien school was critically wounded the next day in the suicide bomb attack at the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem. Source: ORT Israel Newsflash, 7/4/2002 Information about the attack can be found at the Fox News website or New York Times website. (Please note, you may need an account to view the New York Times article.) |
