Israel Charges Lack of Medical Attention in Some of Sinai Deaths

An Israeli official charged Wednesday that autopsies showed Egypt gave a false version of the deaths of seven Israelis gunned down by a berserk Egyptian soldier and that some of the victims died for lack of medical attention.

An Egyptian consul said Tuesday that the victims “were shot dead immediately” when the soldier went berserk in the Sinai desert and opened fire on 11 Israeli tourists on a sand dune at Ras Burka, about 25 miles south of the Israeli port of Eilat.

But Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Roni Milo said autopsies showed that at least four or five of the victims died from loss of blood, indicating they could have been saved if medical help had arrived sooner.

“It emerges from the autopsies and evidence of Israelis who returned that the Egyptian version given was false, it had no basis in reality,” Milo said on Israel radio.

“The lives of at least four victims--children--could have been saved if they had received medical aid that the Egyptians prevented,” he said.

Egypt has denied charges that soldiers delayed taking action in treating the victims.

Israeli officials said they have not yet received an official Egyptian account of the attack, which occurred Saturday. On Sunday, acting Foreign Minister Moshe Arens asked Egypt to provide an explanation “within 48 hours.”

Egyptian Charge d’Affaires Mohammed Bassouny said a special team has been set up in Cairo to investigate the incident and that it could take up to a week to submit its conclusions.

The Israeli Health Ministry said the autopsy report found that two victims of the attack were killed by bullet wounds in the head, but five “could have been kept alive with proper and immediate treatment . . . and died as a result of bleeding that was not stopped.”

Israeli witnesses said Egyptian soldiers prevented an Israeli doctor from treating the victims. But the Egyptian consul said the physician was kept away for his own safety because the assailant was shooting “everywhere at random.”