Honour for terror attack hero

AP

NEW IDENTIFICATION: Sandra Samuel with her new Israeli identification card. She has been granted honorary citizenship after saving Moshe Holtzberg from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed his parents.

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Israel has granted honorary citizenship to an Indian woman who braved gunfire to save an Israeli boy from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed both of his parents.

Sandra Samuel rescued 2-year-old Moshe Holtzberg from a Jewish centre targeted by Islamic militants. She found him by his parents' bodies and rushed him to safety.

Samuel has been caring for him in Israel since then. He is in the custody of his extended family.

Spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said Interior Minister Eli Yishai personally presented the certificate in recognition of Samuel's bravery. She was also granted permanent residency status.

At a news conference, Samuel showed her new Israeli identification card to reporters as she held Moshe in her arms.

"(Moshe) teaches me Hebrew, and if I don't pronounce it properly, he keeps on repeating it, that I say it properly. He is a teacher now for me," Samuel told Israeli Channel 2 TV.

She told Army Radio she is "happy and very honoured."

Samuel, a widow, gave up her life in India and left her two sons to move to Israel.

In all, 166 people were killed in the Mumbai attacks.

- AP