Al-Masry Al-Youm interviewed some of those injured in the church attack in Alexandria that left 21 people killed on New Year’s Eve.
At the St. Mark hospital in Alexandria, Virna, 11, who suffered arm and leg fractures, gave her account of the incident. “I went outside the church minutes before the Holy Eucharist ended. All of a sudden I heard a blast and saw body parts flying around me.”
“I only came around when one of the internal organs of a victim landed in my hands. I bled profusely until paramedics came to my rescue and removed the shrapnel from my foot.”
Crying, she added, “I was scared because I did not know where my mom and dad were.”
Michael Mikhail, 29, who received injuries to his forehead and foot, said, “I was standing near the church at the time of the explosion and then fell to the ground.” He went on, “I withstood the pain until I made it to the St. Mark hospital.”
“I will never forget what I saw on New Year’s Eve.”
Remon Fouad lost his mother in the bombing, and his wife was injured. “I saw my mother bleed to death because the ambulance was late,” he said. “The hospital could not accommodate the large number of victims.”
“This is a heinous crime.”
Ashraf Eshaq was injured in the clashes between Coptic youth and police after the bombing. Eshaq said, “Central security police beat us violently because we were chanting ‘We will defend the cross with our souls and our blood!’”
Naglaa Gamil, a physician at the hospital, said that the Pope had warned that the church would be the target of attacks. “There are currently 20 injured people in the hospital, of whom two have died.”
“There is not enough blood for all the victims,” she said.
