Jordan Times
Friday, November 18, 2005
Queen visits blast site to sign memorial for terror victims
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Thursday signed a banner at Radisson SAS
Hotel bearing the names of those killed in the Nov. 9 terror attacks on three
Amman hotels.
During the visit, the Queen also launched a national system for crisis
intervention and psychological support for families and victims.
The initiative came from the Jordan Society for the Protection of Family
Violence (JSPFV), which was established in 1998.
“Such initiatives are important to overcome this crisis and any other disasters,
especially the psychological effects resulting from such catastrophes,” the
Queen said.
Three almost simultaneous bombings at Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and Days Inn
hotels killed 59 people and injured more than 90 others, mostly guests attending
a wedding at Radisson SAS Hotel. Al Qaeda network in Iraq claimed responsibility
for the attacks.
The psychological effects of the blasts “will not be understood by us and it is
normal that we would need experts to explain it and specify means to deal with
it,” Queen Rania said during the meeting.
“Such incidents create many questions, especially among children, that need
answers to explain the feelings and scenes that might confuse them,” she added.
The Queen said that throughout the Kingdom, reactions to the incidents
emphasised solidarity, giving and a willingness to harness sentiments into
positive actions to help the victims, “particularly since we are a nation that
values security and stability, respect the others and seeks peace,” she added.
Crisis counselling hotlines to be launched
A JSPFV hotline, which will be operational on Monday, will provide psychological
counselling for victims' families.
“The society designed an initiative to support families of victims in crisis by
pooling together a number of psychiatric counsellors to connect them with
families of victims,” said JSPFV Deputy President Reem Abu Hassan.
“These numbers will be operational starting Monday and we are currently training
experts who will be receiving people's calls,” Abu Hassan told The Jordan Times.
The hotlines for victims and their families are: 079 9626005 and 06 5689979.
Earlier on Thursday, the Queen toured the explosion site at Radisson SAS Hotel
and was briefed by employees about their experiences during the blast.