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Young boy survivor tells the horrors of Minya terror attack

Sunday 28-05-2017 - 05:25 PM

Al-Bawaba

M. Habib, son of one victim in Minya terror attack

Cairo - M. Habib, son of one victim in the Minya attack, revealed to Al-Bawaba News some details on the terror attack where masked gunmen opened fire on a caravan of two buses carrying Coptic Christians, killing at least 28 people and injuring 22 others.

M. is an innocent young boy who miraculously survived one of the deadliest attacks in Egypt’s recent history. He said that his father was heading to the monastery along with a number of workers to do some maintenance work on the church bells. He noted that his father used to take him and his younger brother Mina to work with him.

His farther was one of 29 victims who were gunned down by terrorists on Friday. M. survived to become an eyewitness yet he couldn't help his tears while narrating his harrowing story.

The Monastery of Saint Samuel in Maghagha

In a TV appearance on ‘Dream’ satellite channel, viewers saw the boy for the first time, telling his story of what he witnessed with tears streaming from his eyes. He said that just ahead of the monastery, they were confronted by masked gunmen in camouflaged and donned in military uniform. He recalls one of them was wearing black clothes.

The boy said: “The terrorists immediately opened fire at us. There was a bus and a car in front of us with 44 people. The terrorists gunned them down, killing them all. They asked my father for his ID card and before he gave it to them, they shot him with three bullets. I saw this.”

He continued saying, "They asked my father to say the testimony of Islamic faith (Shahada), and then they killed him while chanting "Allah is great"." They had someone who was filming the deadly attack on the bus and two cars heading to Saint Samuel Monastery in Maghagha.”

He added: "They took us out of the pickup truck and left me and my five-year-old brother alone in a mountainous area, surrounded by dead bodies.

“I sneaked into my father's vehicle and made a phone call to my uncle back in the village of Dayr Jarnous for help,” he said while tearfully, while on air.

He added that there was another bus en route to the monastery of Saint Samuel Monastery in Maghagha, west of Minya, and two cars, one with seven people and another with 22 passengers. He said that this was the only road that leads to the monastery.