6 Israeli victims of Thai crash identified; Iran official: No place for politics - Haaretz

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Wed., September 19, 2007 ,

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		Hila Gershoni, 25, was killed Sunday in a plane crash on the Thai island of Phuket. (Reproduction / Gershoni family)

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Last update - 21:59 18/09/2007

6 Israeli victims of Thai crash identified; Iran official: No place for politics

By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent in Bangkok, and Agencies

PHUKET - Thai officials confirmed Tuesday that they have identified the bodies of Hila Gershoni, 25, Adi Naim, Tal Feldman, and Lily Alon, Rotem Naouri and Yitzhak Bitton, six of eight Israelis feared dead when a passenger plane crashed on the southern Thai island Sunday.

An Iranian representative in Thailand told Haaretz on Tuesday that there "is no place for politics" in mourning the dozens of foreigners killed in the plane crash.

Eighteen Iranian tourists are among the fatalities.

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The crash killed 89 people, including some 55 foreigners. The eight Israelis are presumed dead following the crash.

The relatives of three Israelis who are missing arrived on the island Monday, where they were greeted by Israel's ambassador Yael Rubinstein and Consul Hanoch Amadi.

Family members of another Israeli missing after the crash are expected to land in Bangkok soon after.

Haim Naouri spent his missing daughter Rotem's 24th birthday Monday searching dozens of scorched figures on a computer for a facial feature, piece of jewelry, or document that may identify her.

Just two weeks ago she married her partner of seven years, Adi Naim, 25, and then traveled with him to Thailand. Naouri was asked to locate his image as well, along with those of the couple's friends and fellow-honeymooners, Hofit and Yitzhak Bitton. Shula Naim, Adi's mother, couldn't take it. While Naouri went through the photos, she lay on the floor, crumpled up in pain, in the corner on the room.

The official statement Monday from the Israel Embassy in Thailand referred only to the two injured Israeli survivors, and preparations were under way Monday to fly them home.

The official picture is expected to change Tuesday when the Israel Police forensics team arrives to try and identify the bodies, using DNA samples, dental x-rays and other means.

After sitting for a long time in front of the computer, accompanied by staffers from the Israeli embassy and Magen David Adom, Naouri came out of the room and said of his daughter and new son-in-law: "In their lives and their deaths they are not separated."

Elsewhere on the island, outside the locked morgue set up at the international airport, the same photos were being examined by Hila's relatives. Her partner, Omri Kriegel, broke down after looking through the photos supported by his father, Itzik Kriegel, and Hila's uncle, Alon Shnirer. The three arrived Monday from Israel to locate Hila and her friend, Tal Feldman, who was with her on Flight OG 269.

As the day wore on, it took with it the families' hopes that the lists were mistaken, that their children lay unconscious in some remote infirmary on the island, or any other scenario considered optimistic under the circumstances.

Shula Naim set out from Kfar Yona on Sunday with a small bag and no change of clothes. She hoped to find her son and daughter-in-law alive within a few hours. One bit at a time, her hope was snuffed out.

Sunday night's El Al Flight 0081 from Tel Aviv to Bangkok carried hundreds of Israelis, mostly backpackers and vacationing families; a few were foreign workers headed for home leave.

Shula, who sat beside Haim Naouri, pushed away the food tray placed in front of her and asked the attendant for painkillers. "I keep thinking what situation they're in now," she weeped, "where are they? Are they dead?"

Nearby sat Omri Kriegel, his father, Itzik, and Hila's uncle. When morning broke, Itzik borrowed another passenger's set of tefillin, another effort en route to locating his son's partner.

"Don't worry," encouraged David Abadi, an MDA official going to Phuket with a doctor, paramedic, and three members of the Zaka rescue and recovery agency. "We'll go to every clinic, every hospital, we'll do everything to find them."

Shula Naim went on crying quietly, breaking down when shown the passenger manifest for the fatal flight, listing her son's name. For her this was the first concrete evidence, in black and white, of the fears for his life. "If they're listed then they were definitely on the flight?" she asked.

Family members were permitted to telephone home from the plane, but there was no good news.

The embassy and Chabad representatives in Thailand met them with grim looks. "Unfortunately, we have no good tidings," Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm informed them. He had personally rechecked every medical facility on the island to see if any injured person had turned up.

Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Yael Rubinstein, said that despite the large number of victims from Britain, Germany and other countries, only Israel established a situation room on Phuket and dispatched a forensics team, at the Thai government's behest.

"Unfortunately we have a reputation in this matter," she said. "We're waiting for the forensics team to resolve first of all the mystery of our eight missing. Afterward we will assist the Thai authorities with identifying the bodies."

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1.	Pain of Loss	08:35	\|	Macabee	18/09/07

2.	Koh Phangan	09:52	\|	Dav	18/09/07

3.	"No place for politics Iranian told Haaretz".VERY interesting	12:20	\|	PETER S.M.	18/09/07

4.	A good deed during tragedy	12:42	\|	Yonatan	18/09/07

5.	So heart-breaking	12:52	\|	Jennifer	18/09/07

6.	It was reported elsewhere that Iran asked Israeli experts to help	13:00	\|	Briton	18/09/07

7.	Don`t get too exited, PETER S.M. # 3	13:05	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	18/09/07

8.	Perhaps there is a rainbow at the end of this tragedy	15:16	\|	Sherman	18/09/07

9.	Condolences to the Families of All Victims	15:27	\|	Jane	18/09/07

10.	FORTUNA spot on. Mullahs have been stared down	15:45	\|	PETER S.M.	18/09/07

11.	Israeli victims of Thai plane crash	19:31	\|	Doreen	18/09/07

12.	#10	19:48	\|	Elinor	18/09/07

13.	Is PEACE POSSIBLE	21:56	\|	Avi (from Poland)	18/09/07

14.	Rest their souls in peace, Lord	00:03	\|	hala	19/09/07

15.	It`s never easy	00:37	\|	Ben	19/09/07

16.	Avi from Poland - of course it is	01:16	\|	Mark Lincoln	19/09/07

17.	The "politics" of this crash	01:22	\|	Mark Lincoln	19/09/07

18.	To PETER S.M. # 10	03:01	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	19/09/07

19.	Wonderful post. Elinor, thank you.	03:05	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	19/09/07

20.	Israeli Passport IS Insurance Policy	03:39	\|	David Ben-Kohn	19/09/07

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