Dr. Zehra Attari

Dear Friends and Well wishers,

Peace be upon you all.

It is now one year since Dr. Attari passed away because of a tragic accident. Forty three days passed from the day she went missing to the day her body was found. During these 43 days, there was a tremendous out pouring of love and consideration from people all over the Bay Area and beyond, including different parts of the world. On this solemn occasion, we want to express our gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all those who helped and prayed for her safe return.

We thank you all once again for all the efforts you put into the search. The community came forward to help in every way they could. People of all ages came to help in the search. People from all walks of life came to help and also people from all races and religions came forward to help. Religious and social groups participated wholeheartedly. It was truly amazing to see how many people joined in the search. People spent long hours searching the streets of Oakland and Alameda and many other parts of the Bay Area, from hillsides to sea sides and from small streets to parking lots all over the area. Even school children and elders in wheel chairs participated in the candle light vigils and walks. The hard work put in by the volunteers brought the media attention from around the world. It was a blessing to see newspapers in many parts of the world covering the search. People from India, Pakistan, Kuwait, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UK and cities across the US were helpful in providing support and help.
Thankfully, we had a vast pool of people from all walks of life who helped us.

Computer professionals did a good job in setting up the website and contacting each other via emails and internet groups. Others brought
the attention of the media and kept in regular touch with them to keep the publics attention drawn to the case. Volunteers quickly had
flyers made and internet postings were done to inform the people. Volunteers went around the area, handing out and putting up flyers.
Most importantly, people offered prayers for her return. We also thank the nearly 5000 people who signed the petition to the governor for transferring the case over to the federal authorities. Coincidently, Dr. Attari was found just the evening before the petition was to be submitted.

Eventually, the prayers and hard work carried out by the volunteers and the media attention resulted in finding Dr. Attari. It was a very
sorrowful end, yet it brought closure and peace of mind to everyone involved in the search.

May God reward you all for your efforts and kind wishes.

Mr. Tasadduq Attari, family, relatives and friends.

Dear Well Wishers of Dr. Zehra Attari:

May peace be upon you. May Almighty God accept your prayers. Thanks for huge amount of work during search for my missing wife, Zehra Attari. Thanks for continued support after shocking news of her death. Thanks for sympathy and tremendous amount of comfort in this difficult time. May Almighty God reward you for the same.

In memory of my wife a Qur’aan recitation gathering will be held at 6:00pm on October 6,2006 at SABA Islamic Center in San Jose,CA. The SABA Islamic Center is located in northern part of San Jose and its address is : 4415, Fortran Court, San Jose, CA.95134. SABA’s regular Ramadhan Iftaar program will follow the Qur’aan recitation. In holy month of Ramadhan SABA’s Ramdhan Iftaar include Maghrib (sun set) prayer, Iftaar (breaking of fast), dinner, Isha (night prayer), supplication, and speech. Kindly come to the event.

The well wishers who cannot join the memorial, are requested to pray for her soul individaully or in gatherings in their own neighbourhood in San Jose, Oakland,San Francisco, and other surronding cities at 6:00pm on 6th of October 2006. The well wishers who are in other parts of world may recite Qur’aan at their convenient time and location. The well wishers who do not use Qur’aan recitation for soul are requested to use their own method of memorial.

God bless you. Thanks again and regards

Sincerely,
Tasadduq Husain Attari

Dear Well wishers of Dr. Zehra Attari:

May God bless you. May Almighty God reward you for your continued support in difficult time.

Many of you have asked questions about legacy of Dr. Zehra Attari, Care for her patients, accidents
at the Grand street boat ramps, prevention of accidents in future etc.
Some of your questions are as follows:

(1) How are children getting medical care?
(2) Who is carrying out Dr. Attari’s mission?
(3) Were there drowning and other incidents before at Grand street ramp in city of Alameda?
(4) Will Grand street boat ramp close? OR Will there be more drownings?

The following will provide answer to most of your questions:

DR. ATTARI’s MISSION:

Dr. Brian Blaisch has started seeing patients at Dr. Attari’s existing clinic. He has taken full charge
of the clinic. His mission is the same as Dr. Attari’s mission. He is providing full care to under privileged children. If you have questions please call him at (510) 533-1248.

Accidents at the Grand Street Boat Ramp:

Mr. Mohinder Mann of Mann Law Firm has done research about the Grand Street Boat Ramp.
According to his findings there were preventable drownings and other accidents at the Grand Street
Boat ramp before. On my behalf Mr. Mohinder Mann has filed a complaint to prevent future drownings and other accidents. If you have any questions about the accidents please call him at the following number: (408) 499 8600.

Mr. Mohinder Mann has made statements to news papers and tv about the Grand Steet Boat Ramp.
Please read today’s news papers of San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco. Please watch today’s 5:00PM and other evening tv news of Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco. Please record the tv news if possible for future refernce.

Thanks

May Almighty God reward you for all the work that you have done for me and my family in this difficult time.

Tasadduq Attari

The family of a pediatrician who drowned after driving off an Alameda public boat ramp into the Oakland estuary has filed a wrongful-death claim against the city of Alameda.

Police divers found the body of Zehra Attari, 55, of San Jose inside her submerged vehicle at the end of Grand Street on Dec. 20, 43 days after her family reported her missing. Her disappearance prompted fears that she had been kidnapped.

Alameda police, with the help of California Highway Patrol accident reconstruction experts, concluded last month that Attari’s death was an accident. Nevertheless, the city knew Grand Street “simply ends into the water,” without any barrier or other safety devices, said the claim filed by Attari’s widower, Tasadduq Attari, and two daughters, Ruby Ali and Huma Attari.

“The premises at this location was a dangerous condition of public property in that it presented a substantial and foreseeable risk of injury or death,” said the claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Alameda City Attorney Carol Korade said today that the city received the claim Friday but she could not comment.

“We are evaluating it, and that’s the only thing I can really say at this time,” Korade said.

Attari, who lived in San Jose, was reported missing Nov. 7 after she left her office in Oakland’s Fruitvale district for a medical conference in Alameda. Police divers found her body inside her Honda Accord.

Word that two men had died at the same location in 2002 led Attari’s family to ask why the city had not installed a barrier. In February, the city erected several temporary barricades outfitted with orange detour signs. But Attari’s relatives want permanent measures in place, Mohinder Mann, the family’s attorney, said Monday.

“Dr. Attari’s death was preventable,” Mann said. “While nothing can ever make up for the loss of Dr. Attari’s life, we’re hopeful this claim will prompt authorities to do the right thing and make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Mann said the family agreed that it was an accident and not “the intentional act of anybody.”

Still, the city “had the authority and responsibility to take adequate measures to protect against the dangerous condition,” the claim said.

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Original Article

Attari’s car was found nearly two months after she disappeared; the claim against Alameda is a prerequisite to a lawsuit

The family of Dr. Zehra Attari has filed a wrongful death claim against the city of Alameda in connection with the accident that claimed the life of the 55-year-old San Jose woman.

The claim is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit against the city. Alameda officials have 45 days to decide if they will accept or deny the claim.

Attari, a pediatrician, disappeared after leaving her office in Oakland on the rainy evening of Nov. 7 to attend a medical conference a few miles away in Alameda. Police found her gray Honda Accord submerged in the Oakland Estuary near the Grand Street boat ramp in Alameda on Dec.20.

“We strongly feel Dr. Attari’s death was preventable,” said San Jose attorney Mohinder Mann, who represents Attari’s husband, Tasadduq, and her two daughters, Rubi Ali and Huma Attari.

“On the night we found Dr. Attari’s body, several neighbors came up and stated this was one too many accidents and that something had to be done” about the unmarked boat ramp, he said.

Two men apparently drove their car off the same ramp a few years ago and drowned. Mann said there have been several “near misses” as well.

The ramp, which runs straight into the water from the end of Grand Street, had been marked by a flashing red light and a low sign that said “End.” In early February, several temporary barricades were placed at the ramp.

Alameda City Attorney Carol Korade said the claim “is under review. We will be evaluating it.”

After Attari’s body was found, Alameda police asked the California Highway Patrol to investigate the accident. But their report “was inconclusive,” Alameda Police Lt. David Boersma said Monday.

“We were looking for estimated speed but they were unable to come up with things like that,” he said.

The claim was filed Friday because the six-month deadline to submit one fell on Sunday.

Following Attari’s disappearance, numerous searches were conducted as days stretched into weeks with no sign of her. Her medical assistant kept her office open and family and friends traced the route they thought she took to the conference with no luck.

It wasn’t until a woman came forward and tipped police that authorities were able to locate Attari. The woman said she had seem someone resembling Attari in that area on the night Attari disappeared, but had been hesitant to come forward.

At a news conference in February, Oakland Police Deputy Chief Howard Jordan said the Alameda County sheriff’s search and rescue team had searched the area near the ramp several times with a sonar-detecting boat, but the car was apparently submerged too deep for the sonar to register it.

Attari’s car was found upside down in about 25 feet of water.

Mann said her family wants to work with Alameda officials to find a solution “so no one will have to suffer such a horrible and unnecessary death again.”

By Linda Goldston
KNIGHT RIDDER
Original Article

Alameda police said Friday they found no signs of foul play in the death of a San Jose pediatrician whose body was found in her submerged car in the Oakland Estuary.

The 55-year-old Dr. Zehra Attari also was not drunk or under the influence of drugs when she drove off an Alameda boat ramp in November, according to a toxicology report from the coroner’s office.

Investigators found her car Dec. 20 after they got a tip that someone matching her description was seen near the boat ramp, which begins at the foot of Grand Street and slopes directly into the estuary.

Police Lt. Mark Landes released the findings on Friday and said the police investigation is now over.

Attari vanished as she drove from her Oakland medical office to a conference on Bay Farm Island in Alameda. Police think she became lost and accidentally drove off the ramp.

At the time Attari disappeared, just a sign with the word “End” and a blinking red light warned motorists the street was about to end. Since then, the city has installed a temporary barricade.

After Attari’s body was found, her family said they thought more safety measures should be installed at the ramp, which was also the scene of an earlier fatal accident.

In November 2002, a car carrying two men — Tuvara Ginger, 26, of Oakland and Carlos Delgado Ortiz, 33, of San Leandro — drove into the Estuary from the ramp.

The men were found six weeks later when a crane lifting a sunken boat found the submerged red 2001 Mitsubishi with their bodies inside.

By Peter Hegarty
Original Article