PARKER, Colo. - It was supposed to be a celebration at Lutheran High School southeast of Denver, but the homecoming festivities turned into a tragic accident.

During a pep rally inside the school's gymnasium Friday afternoon, the senior football players took to the court to play a game of tug-of-war with the junior football players.

Witnesses say during the competition, two juniors, who had the rope wrapped around their hands, started to scream.

Sophomore Jenni Kjerstad said it was a chaotic scene inside the school.

"Hearing it was pretty gross. There was like a lot of people screaming and just all blood flying everywhere and just people running out of the room," she said.

Parker Police say the boys suffered severe injuries, partially severing their hands.

"The injuries consisted of partial amputation of the right hand on both players," said Lt. Sam Realmuto of the Parker Police Department.

The boys, Henry Barrett and Mitch Helfer, were rushed to nearby hospitals, where they had to undergo surgery to save their hands.

Barrett is listed in critical condition, while Helfer's condition was not immediately known.

Counselors were brought to the school for students who witnessed the accident or were affected by the event.

"We're praying for all you guys," said Kjerstad.

Lutheran High School says it has postponed all homecoming events until further notice.

NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Israel's air strike inside Syria last month was directed at a site judged by Israeli and U.S. intelligence analysts to be a partly constructed nuclear reactor, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.

Citing U.S. and foreign officials who had access to the analysts' intelligence reports, all who spoke under condition of anonymity, the Times said the reactor was apparently modeled on one in North Korea used for stockpiling nuclear weapons fuel.

The targeted Syrian facility appeared to have been much further from completion than an Iraqi reactor the Israelis destroyed in 1981 in an attack the Sept. 6 incident echoed, according to the Times, again citing U.S. and foreign officials. It also said Bush administration officials had been divided over the attack, with some seeing it as premature.

Some officials said the facility was years away from being used to produce spent nuclear fuel that could eventually be used for weapons-grade plutonium. The internal Bush administration debate over a possible Israeli attack on the reactor began last summer, the Times said.

It remained unclear how far Syria had gotten with the plant before the attack, what role North Korea might have played and whether a case could be made it was intended to produce electricity, the newspaper said.

U.S. and foreign officials refused to be drawn out on whether they suspected North Korea of having sold or given the plans to Syria, but some officials said it was possible a transfer of technology occurred several years ago.

Israel confirmed earlier this month it had carried out an air strike on Syria, but the two countries have given little information on the target.

Information on the raid has been under under tight wraps in both Washington and Israel, the newspaper said, restricted to a handful of officials, and Israeli media have been barred from publishing information about it.

But a senior Israeli official said the attack was meant to "re-establish the credibility of our deterrent power," the Times said. Several U.S. officials told the paper the strike may also have been intended for the attention of Iran and its nuclear program.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto declined to comment on the Times story. Israel also refused to comment, the Times said.

U.S. officials said the partially constructed Syrian reactor was identified earlier this year in satellite photographs. Those officials also suggested Israel brought the facility to U.S. attention.

The newspaper also reported that Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration contended that the same intelligence that prompted Israel's attack on the reactor strengthened the case for U.S. reconsideration of negotiations with North Korea over ending its nuclear program, as well as Washington's diplomatic posture with Syria.

© Reuters 2007