Published April 13, 2005
BERLIN (AP) — Three southwestern Michigan men injured in a deadly bombing at a Cairo tourist bazaar were admitted to a U.S. military hospital in Germany for treatment, a hospital spokeswoman said.
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Erik Mirandette, 22, Michael Kiel, 21, and Kristopher Ross, 22, were injured in the April 7 blast that killed two French tourists and an American identified by The Grand Rapids Press as Mirandette’s brother Alex, 18, from Kentwood, Mich.
The three injured men arrived by military transport at Ramstein Air Base in Germany yesterday morning and were taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for treatment, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said.
Mirandette was in the intensive care unit. The others underwent medical procedures that were completed yesterday afternoon and were listed in stable condition, Shaw said.
It might be several days before they can be moved back to the United States. Several relatives have flown to Germany to be with them, Shaw said.
Further information on the nature and extent of their injuries was not immediately available.
Shauna Niequist, a spokeswoman for Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., the church attended by the four Michigan men, told the newspaper for a story published yesterday that the friends were on a four-month motorcycle tour of Africa. They stopped at churches, orphanages and AIDS clinics along the way to donate their time, she said.
“They’re still in a very serious situation,” Niequist said of the three injured friends. “We’re not talking at all about when they’re coming home.”
Erik Mirandette previously traveled throughout Africa for about a year and a half, doing outreach work for Mars Hill with other churches and organizations. But he and his motorcycle companions were not on a mission for the church on this trip, Niequist said.
“It says a lot about their character that the official trip was over, but even on a recreational (trip) it was still important for them to be helping people and building relationships along the way,” she said.
A total of 18 people were injured in the blast at Cairo’s Khan al-Khalili bazaar. Suspected bomber Hassan Rafaat Ahmed Bashandi, who was 17 or 18, died in the attack.
Police have detained 30 people in the bombing, including the suspected bomber’s mother, three brothers and 16 other relatives.
