ALKHOBAR, 30 May 2004 — Ten-year-old Egyptian Rami Al-Ghonaimi was murdered on the way to school yesterday. The student of Al-Hussan Academy in Alkhobar was about to leave APICORP Compound, where his family lives, when the sport utility vehicle in which he was traveling with other schoolchildren became caught up in an ongoing terrorist attack on the compound. Eyewitnesses said the vehicle’s driver ran from the SUV and abandoned the children to their fate.
Hearing the screaming students, compound residents ran to assist them. The vehicle was on fire and Rami was immobile inside. While the other children were helped to safety inside residents’ homes, Rami could not be saved.
Reports differ as to the cause of his death. Some eyewitnesses said the terrorists shot the child through the SUV’s window glass. Others said that the terrorists threw a hand grenade at the vehicle.
Rami’s family, at home at the time of the attack, are in shock. His mother has been sedated and hospitalized. Arrangements for the burial are under way, with the Embassy of Egypt offering support.
“We condemn these terrible attacks,” said Mahmoud Ouf, the consul general at the embassy. “We grieve for Rami Al-Ghonaimi and all the other victims. We have already been in contact with the child’s family to condole them, although no words can express the depth of our sympathy for them and all the victims and their families. We are ready to provide all assistance to them.
“A second Egyptian, 41-year-old Muhammad Abdullah, a passerby of one of the attacks, was shot in the head and is in serious condition in hospital. Pray for him.”
As word of the tragedy that struck the Al-Ghonaimi family spread, friends had difficulty reaching them to offer solace and assistance due to the security crackdown in Alkhobar.
At Al-Hussan Academy, Rami’s classmates were horrified. The school administration said that students and teachers who knew Rami were openly weeping.
“We will be meeting early tomorrow morning to decide how to remember Rami,” said Abdullah, a spokesman for the Al-Hussan Academy. “He was a bright boy who participated enthusiastically in all activities. He will be sorely missed.
“We love these children like our own,” the spokesman said. “We take care of these children in the same way we care for our own. All who knew Rami were crying and broken-hearted today.”
A reporter for Asharq Al-Awsat asked Rami’s father Sameer Al-Ghonaimi how long the family had lived in Saudi Arabia. He replied: “Long enough for my child, who was born here, to die here.”
