Palestinian Dies in Fire After Israeli Forces Detain Firetruck at Checkpoint
Mar 11, 2021 – – IMEMC News
▻https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-dies-in-fire-after-israeli-forces-detain-firetruck-at-checkpoint
Israeli forces detained a firetruck in East Jerusalem Monday, preventing it from reaching the burning home of 34-year old Ahmad Dola. As a result, Dola died in the blaze, and his two-month old infant and his wife suffered moderate-to-severe burns and other injuries.
The fire apparently started from the electric cord of a heater in the Dola family home while the whole family was sleeping. Ahmad woke up, ran to the neighbors for help and as they called the fire department, Ahmad ran back inside to rescue his wife and baby.
He succeeded in rescuing his family, but collapsed while trying to escape the home, and died of smoke inhalation. The firetruck, which deployed just moments after receiving the call, was stuck at an Israeli checkpoint despite clearly being in emergency mode with sirens and lights.
The Israeli soldiers, stationed at Qalandia checkpoint in east Jerusalem, refused to allow the fire truck to pass to be able to extinguish the fire.
The fire truck was detained for over 30 minutes waiting for a military escort. By the time they managed to arrive, Ahmad was dead.