7Berkeh: The 12-day invasion launched by the occupier regime of Israel has almost coincided with the historic tragic death of 290 passengers of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988. Among the victims were 11 citizens of Gerash. 7Berkeh has reviewed their memories in the past years.
37 years has passed since July 3rd, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the Navy warship of USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf. All the 290 passengers on board were killed. The flight had taken off only seven minutes before from the International Airport of Bandar Abbas and while it was flying its usual route to Dubai, it was shot down by two missiles fired by this Navy warship.
This crime documented one of the biggest calamities in the history of flights around the world. The tragedy occurred during the eight-year war of Iraq and Iran, and with all the controversies, we can never ignore the dishonesty of the government of the United States.
Among the passengers killed, there were eleven Gerashis. Ten victims were from Omid Ali Bandi’s family. Mr. Bandi and his wife Fatemeh-Nesa Ejdehaei and their seven children were in the flight with their aunt. Another Gerashi passenger was Haji Mohammad-Ali Khodadadi. All of them were travelling to Dubai. But their flight never landed, and their bodies calmed in the blue waters of the Persian Gulf.
From the martyred family of Bandi, only two children, Ali and Zeynab, who were not in the flight have survived. In 2016, 7Berkeh interviewed with Ali, one of the survivors of the family and he retold the tragic flight of his innocent family. “At that time, I was eighteen years old,” Ali said, “and since I had to go to the military service, I did not accompany my family. My sister, Zeynab, had gotten married and she had also no decision to join them.”
After this catastrophe, the government of the United States paid some money as fine to every family. After receiving the money, the family of Bandi decided to build some urban buildings in the memory of their family members. “We did not need the money, and we never spent a part of it for ourselves,” said Ali, who later on became a baker in Gerash, “we loved to spend the money on some lasting works to keep their memories alive in Gerash. We thought about how we could achieve our goals. Finally, we built three main projects in the city. Building the office of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, Shahidan Bandi Boulevard and paying the necessary budget for building the irrigation system of Parvaz Street; Niloofar Alleys 1 and 2, were the ways in which we spent the money.”
The other victim of this tragedy was Haji Mohammad-Ali Khodadadi, whose body never returned home, and it found comfort in the Persian Gulf forever.
These days, when Iran and the Iranian people are faced with Israeli’s invasion, an important and vital principle is reminded for all of us: our home and its people are our only property in crisis and its protection has been our duty forever and ever.
