(16:00) Death toll climbs to 16 in Djerba blast
By Bouazza Ben Bouazza, The Associated Press
TUNIS, Tunisia - The toll in a blast last week at an ancient synagogue on the resort island of Djerba climbed to 16 on Sunday, with the deaths of three more injured Germans - including an 18-month-old baby, officials here and in Germany said.
Questions mounted over the origin of the blast on Thursday at the Ghriba synagogue, with German Interior Minister Otto Schily saying that there were "growing signs" the explosion was an attack.
A truck laden with gas blew up at the wall of the more than 2,000-year-old synagogue, the oldest in Africa.
Schily, speaking on German television Saturday, gave no further details. He called the explosion a terrible crime and offered condolences. Eleven Germans are among the 16 victims.
Tunisian authorities have called the explosion a "tragic accident." An investigation has been opened.
A severely burned 18-month-old baby boy died Sunday at a Hamburg hospital, where injured Germans were evacuated Saturday, according to tour operator TUI. The infant's parents, being treated in Berlin, were among at least four Germans in critical condition.
A 45-year-old woman died at the Hamburg hospital, doctors said. Another injured German died at a Berlin hospital, according to doctors, who provided no further information.
Horst Triller of the German Embassy in Tunis confirmed the three new deaths.
Three more injured died on Saturday, two Germans and a French man.
Three Tunisians, the driver of the truck and two workers, as well as a French-Tunisian tour guide also were killed.
Djerba is the hub of this Muslim North African nation's approximately 2,000-strong Jewish community, now shaken by the deadly drama. It came amid a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe that have coincided with the growing violence in the Middle East.
"At first, when I arrived shortly after the explosion I thought someone dressed as a tourist had set off a bomb," said Perez Trabelsi, the synagogue's president. "I wouldn't ever have thought of a truck. But then I saw the tank, which was ripped wide open."
Tourism Minister Mondher Zenaidi visited the synagogue on Saturday, reiterating the official explanation of a "tragic accident."
"Until the investigation is finished, there should be no speculation" about an attack, he said.
"Tunisia is a country of tolerance, respect for differences and respect for religions," the minister said.
Tunisia, a small nation tucked between Algeria and Libya, depends heavily on tourism. Djerba, with its white beaches and swaying palms about 600 kms (375 miles) south of Tunis, is a key destination of European and other tourists.
The synagogue itself receives between 700 and 2,000 tourists per day, depending on the day of the week, according to Rene Trabelsi, son of the synagogue's president.
Regional Governor Mohamed Ben Salem has said the tanker truck was stopped by synagogue guards as it approached the grounds and was ordered to turn around, but hit the outer wall and exploded.
The only recollection of an anti-Jewish attack in Djerba was the Oct. 8, 1985, killing of three people in the island's business district by a Tunisian policeman. He was apparently seeking revenge for the Israeli raid a week earlier on PLO headquarters, then housed outside Tunis. The raid by six Israeli planes left at least 61 Palestinians and 12 Tunisians dead. |
