Sheikhs, men and sons of al-Rawdah, north Sinai, didn’t know that their ablution for Friday’s prayer will be their last, after they were killed by terrorists with cold blood. Al-Rawdah is facing complexity and sadness since it had lost more than three quarter of its residents in the incident, while the rest remain in hospitals.
Notably, dozens of fleeing families resided in Rawdah and its mosque was a temporary rest for passengers. More than 310 bodies were buried in two collective cemeteries in the village, in a tragic scene that hasn’t been witnessed in Egypt in the modern age.
Eid Shraifat, head of local unit of Rawdah village, told Asharq Al-Awsat the following: “We were listening to the sermon and suddenly we heard a blast followed by gunshot on who praying outside the mosque. Then the terrorists entered the mosque and started shooting randomly on men, youths and children who were praying.”
As to how he managed to survive this massacre, Eid added: “When I heard the gunshot, I rushed to the ablution place then to the narrow ladders of the minaret. We had two choices: to get to the minaret or to the roof. Few seconds later, I and those who followed me decided to jump from the roof because we though they would explode the whole mosque.”
“Most of my friends and colleagues were killed in the mosque,” he added.
Mohammad Ahmad, a resident of Rawdah village, said that he has been residing here since four years and that he always prays at the mosque, where nothing inside the mosque seemed suspicious.
“Last Friday, I came late to the mosque and as I arrived I heard gunshot nearby the mosque so I headed back. But after the massacre was over, I went to the mosque and was shocked with the awful bloody scene,” he continued.
