Lasting trauma for Yemeni victims of Mareb blast

Marwan Bin Ajlan tries to keep the horror of the Mareb blast behind him.

Marwan Bin Ajlan narrowly escaped death in the recent terrorist bombing in Mareb. A young man in his mid-twenties, he recently sat among members of his large family and visitors at his uncle’s house in Sana’a, trying to make sense of his experience. He pretended to be like everyone else in the room, qat-chewing, and attempting to avoid the horrific memories of the moment of the explosion in which two fellow drivers were killed along with seven Spaniards on June 2.

Hussein Bin Ajlan, his father, has been working in this industry for more than 20 years. “It was my turn to take the Spaniards for that tour,” the father said, with a gentle smile. “I would have been the group leader and not here today. It is the only car we have and share trips to make a living.” Marwan, from Mareb, tried to explain the last moments before the blast. “Ahmed – the late driver and group leader – asked me to bring him cold water before we started to exit the historic site,” he says. “I am very grateful that I gave him the cold water he wanted.” That was the last words exchanged by the two drivers before the blast.

Ahmed Bin Ali Burayma was the leader of the group, which entitled him to drive ahead of the rest. The young, lighthearted fellow did not know that his last moment was to come as he picked up a cold bottle of water from Marwan. “I was driving the last car of the four, and was quite far behind,” Marwan said. “I saw a speeding vehicle heading towards us, while the cars were about to cross to the highway. I thought they were kidnappers. I held my machine gun, which was next to me to defend the tourists onboard. The car moved closer to the second car of the three and exploded.

Then I was overwhelmed by the extraordinary sound and vibration of the explosion.” He took long pauses between words as he spoke, tilting his eyes, which suffer from internal bleeding, toward the ceiling, as if he is re-visualizing that moment. His immediate reaction was to go ahead to the first car to rescue Ahmed – group leader and closest friend of his –after giving a quick help to the injured Spaniards in his car.

Ahmed Bin Ali Burayma, 24, politely turned down his uncle Saleh’s request not to go on the trip. “I have to take the Spanish tourists,” Ahmed responded to his uncle gently. “It is a commitment, uncle.” Before stepping out of his family’s house in the deserted Harib in Mareb, Ahmed hugged his father, mother and several of his fifteen brothers and sisters with a warm good-bye. “It was really a passionate farewell that we never experienced before,” his father said. “He asked his mom and me to pray for him.”

Marwan said, “I wanted to rescue Ahmed. I didn’t find him. I did not find his car. I found only ruins and flesh.” “Marwan, Ahmed’s fellow driver, called us very shortly after the blast and reported that the group was attacked,” Saleh Burayma said. “Marwan did not tell us that he was gone, but rather said that he was trying to find him.”

Now Marwan suffers from several injuries in his arms, chest, head, and most seriously, in his eyes. “I can’t see with my right eye,” he said, pointing to his very red eyes.  Government officials promised to take care of the medical costs and other logistics for the Yemeni victims. But it seems it was for publicity purposes only, he said.
In reality, the travel agent and family are taking care of Marwan’s medicine, at their own expense. “Nobody even called to ask or visit except the governor of Mareb,” the family said.

His father said that Marwan screams in horror loudly while asleep. This means that he needs a special psychological care to overcome the horror he has experienced, he said.  Though he ruled out giving up taking tourists to the beautiful places of Yemen, his family’s car is smashed by the attack and he can’t afford a new one.  “We expect the president would compensate us for the losses,” Marwan said. He hopes that President Saleh will be more compassionate than the other officials with whom he has dealt.

Ahmed’s family lost their main source of income when they lost their sole Toyota car. The father was sad for losing his young son, and the car too. It seems because of the large family he has, he cannot wait for so long for the compensation from the government.  Both families of the two victims conveyed their deepest condolences to all families of all victims, from Yemen and Spain alike.

Related Content

•  Al-Qaeda statement denies official reports
•  Dutch police detains two Yemenis on US flight
•  Mysterious fate of Sa’dah deputy security director
•  Government and Houthis sign schedule for implementing 22 points
•  Final qualifying stage for Yemen poet, Al-Aqeeq channel
•  Economic Media Center demands traders maintain reasonable prices
•  SCER mandates education to review voters tables for 2010
•  More than million children out of school, government report
•  Intensifying al-Qaeda attacks are government’s biggest challenge, President Saleh
•  Abyan al-Qaeda attacks security raising death toll to 23 troops