Atena Chemelinejad was a first-grade student. She had not even turned seven when she was martyred.
Rouhollah Chemelinejad, the father of this student, says in an interview:
“My dear Atena was my only child. Atena was an extraordinary girl. No matter how much I speak of her, it will never be enough. But you should know what a jewel I lost.”
He says:
“When I heard the first explosion, there was a slight tremor, but the next explosions were much stronger. When I came to myself, I saw smoke rising from the direction of the school. I went toward the part where my daughter’s classroom was and began removing pieces of debirs with my hands. I wanted to see if I could find any sign, anything, of my daughter.
It was around 1:30 am when my brother came and said, ‘We found Atena.’
I asked, ‘Where is she?’. He said Atena was among the children who had been thrown into the schoolyard in the first moments, and that she had been taken to the hospital.
We went to the hospital, but there they told us Atena was not there. I protested and said, ‘They told us Atena is in the hospital.’ I was so restless that finally they told me Atena had been martyred and that she had been transferred to the Tiab morgue.
That moment was very hard for me.
Atena’s body was intact. There was only one bruise on her face, caused by the force of the explosion.”