Multiple news outlets across the West have praised an Egyptian military tank crew for thinking quickly and acting fast to contain a car bomb and save over 50 nearby civilians after suicide attackers approached them in Arish on Monday.
The military stated that the tank stopped the vehicle, which had been carrying four gunmen, at a security checkpoint in the North Sinai capital, and attempted to contain as much of the blast as possible by crushing the car with the tank itself.
Despite their best efforts, seven civilians were killed after the bomb went off. However, local and international media outlets commended the tank crew for their self-less act. The video was published on a number of international outlets, including the Australian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, Newsweek, and many more.
Video footage of the incident captured the car speeding towards a crowd of people and vehicles stopped at the checkpoint.
After seeing the gunmen inside, the crew made a swift decision to run over the car, which contained an estimated 100kg of explosives, according to the army spokesperson.
The tank then retreated as nearby civilians rushed to safety, and the car exploded in a fiery blast.
In a recent statement, the army spokesperson said that the attack, if carried out successfully, may have resulted in the death of almost 60 people.
“The explosion was large, carrying about 100kg of high explosives,” the army statement said.
As of Friday, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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