Jabari family here displayed a great deal of fortitude and generosity during and after the tragic fire on Saturday at the Bara'em Al-Watan School. The three Al-Jabari sisters, who study at the school, had 30 fellow students at their home in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. It also emerged that the father of the sisters saved 15 students and teachers by taking swift action when the fire broke out. The Al-Jabari house was turned into a medical camp after some of the students were rescued. A number of them appeared to be suffering from shock. After some of them had rested they told Al-Hayat what they had witnessed and how scared they were when the fire broke out. Haneen Al-Jabari, who is in grade one, said: “I was shocked by what was happening. The fire started inside the lab and many young students were suffocating. I saw students screaming and others calling for someone to save them from the fire. Some had to break windows and jump off high floors to save themselves from the fire that was spreading quickly.” Nada, Haneen's sister, who is in grade six, said she was able to run away to the main gate before the fire had spread to nearby classes. “I heard many students scream and cry on the second floor where the fire had started. It was really sad. Some students tried to break the windows to jump out.” Ghayda, the other sister, said that the fire started in the laboratory when a teacher was teaching a lesson on housekeeping. “Students started to scream and were pushing and shoving each other trying to break doors and windows so that they could escape. I was able to leave the school amid the screams and shouts of many students.” Hussain Soufi, the father of the three sisters, saved 13 students and two female teachers. The Al-Jabari house is close to the school, so Hussain took ladders to the school to help some students who were trapped on the second floor. This was before the Civil Defense rescue teams had arrived. He told Al-Hayat that this happened when he returned from mosque after the noon prayers. “I heard screams and shouts coming from the school. Then I saw smoke billowing from the school. Some students were shouting: ‘Save us'.”
