Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., December 18, 2008 Kislev 21, 5769 | | Israel Time: 04:51 (EST+7)
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Last update - 01:59 17/12/2008
'I awoke and saw everyone was down on the ground around me'
By Yanir Yagna, Revital Levy-Stein and Dana Veiler Polack, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Bus, Eilat, Israel News 

A number of the people injured in the bus crash near Eilat on Tuesday that claimed the lives of at least 24 Russian tour guides spoke of the moments of horror they experienced during and after the accident.

"I woke up on the ground and I saw all of the people around me lying down. There was absolute silence," Luba Srebrodolskaya told Haaretz.

The tour guide said the trip was her third visit to Israel, adding that she loved the country even though she is not Jewish.
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"I only want to get home and then visit Israel again," she said.

The group had come to Israel in order to familiarize themselves with Eilat, ahead of marketing the southern resort city to prospective tourists.

Yelena Patiyumkina, 56, was moderately injured in the incident. She said that, "This was our first hour in Israel... We started to overtake the second bus and then fell to the left side. From then on I don't remember anything."

Patiyumkina stated that the bus driver should have his passengers to wear seat belts.

One official who arrived at the scene of the crash described it as looking "like a massive terror attack," with bodies scattered across the dry river bed.

A spokesman for rescue services told Army Radio spoke of the carnage he and his personnel witnessed at the site, saying "we were exposed to one of the worst accidents in recent years."

Another rescue worker said that reaching the injured was nearly impossible, considering the dangerous slopes they had to descend.



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      1.   Sounds like a typical Israeli maniac driver 17:21  |  Adam 16/12/08
      2.   The carnage continues - by our own hands 17:59  |  Raymond in DC 16/12/08
      3.   Police Enforcement 18:09  |  Sam 16/12/08
      4.   Unfortunately 18:12  |  Moshe 16/12/08
      5.   Israeli driving 18:17  |  AJ 16/12/08
      6.   who licensed and hired this maniac? 18:35  |  skf 16/12/08
      7.   Maniac drivers 18:45  |  EZ 16/12/08
      8.   How surprising! 18:52  |  John Locke 16/12/08
      9.   shame on all the Israeli drivers who create a culture 18:53  |  newageblues 16/12/08
      10.   entering Eilat 19:09  |  Ethan 16/12/08
      11.   tragedy in the South 19:55  |  Rachelle 16/12/08
      12.   I am sorry for the victims - please do not make this an ethnic 21:05  |  Radovan 16/12/08
      13.   Hooligan drivers 21:24  |  Tricia 16/12/08
      14.   Traffic Fatalities in Israel 21:28  |  Yaakov Sullivan 16/12/08
      15.   So sorry for the victims and their families 22:57  |  Race misfortune 16/12/08
      16.   #1 Adam - It`s evident 01:27  |  * BEN JABO 17/12/08
      17.   Typical Israeli road madness 07:38  |  Millicent 17/12/08
      18.   What a good image, uh? 09:17  |  El_Justiciero 17/12/08
      19.   Passengers must sometimes complain 11:16  |  any passenger 17/12/08
      20.   eilat bus crash 11:32  |  deborah 17/12/08
      21.   horrible traffic accident 11:53  |  Sonia 17/12/08
      22.   driving in Israel 16:19  |  Peter 17/12/08
      23.   Driving in Israel 18:26  |  Diana 17/12/08
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