Last update - 00:00 27/08/2007
Teen injured in Eilat boating accident comes out of coma
By Mijal Grinberg and Revital Levy-Stein , Haaretz Correspondents
One of the two teenagers seriously injured last week in a boating accident in Eilat regained consciousness Sunday. The two boat operators suspected of causing the accident were released to house arrest.
Omri Amar, 15, was injured with three of his friends in the accident off the southern city's coast. The accident occurred some 500 meters from the beach. The youths, between the ages of 14 and 16, were on an inner-tube tire pulled by a motorboat, when their tire hit a second boat used for water-skiers.
One of Amar's friends was critically injured. The other two sustained light injuries. Two other boats witnessed the collision, hurried to the scene and rescued the four injured teens from the water.
The four teens are from the Gan Yavneh region in the center of the country, and had come to Eilat with their families on vacation. They were taken to the city's Yosephtal Medical Center for treatment. From there, Amar and the youth critically injured were transferred to Be'er Sheva's Soroka Hospital.
"Omri opened his eyes and said hi to the nurse," the boy's mother, Rita, told Haaretz. "The nurse called us in, and when we entered the room I asked him whether he recognized the man standing next to me, his father. He said 'dad.' I asked him who he wanted to see, and he said Liel, his brother. We burst into tears."
Meanwhile, police released Shiran Malka of Eilat to house arrest. Malka, who was operating the boat pulling the inner tube, was apprehended Friday. His craft collided with a boat pulling a water-skier. The operator of that boat, Shai Blobel, was arrested shortly after the accident.
Police said the two men confessed to negligence resulting in an injury, negligent operation of a watercraft and violation of boating laws. Police added they intended to recommend that the two be indicted for the offenses.