Suicide bus bomb horror

Colin Adamson12 April 2012

At least 17 people were killed, some of them burned alive, when a bomb ripped through a packed bus in the north of Israel today.

One couple who were trapped in the wreckage died in a last embrace as flames tore through the bus. The fireball erupted after a Palestinian militant, who was among the dead, detonated a huge bomb in his car when he pulled up behind the bus at a busy junction.

Israel retaliated this afternoon by sending armoured vehicles and tanks into the West Bank city of Jenin which was followed by reports of shooting there.

The bus, carrying off-duty Israeli soldiers and civilians, was flipped over twice by the blast. Several seconds later a fierce blaze broke out on board the bus near the city of Megiddo, which is Hebrew for Armageddon.

The soldiers' ammunition exploded in the heat, adding to the carnage. Several passengers were thrown out of the bus by the force of the explosion and rescuers were forced back by the intense heat. Body bags lined the road and more than 40 passengers were injured. The bus was reduced to a scorched metal frame.

Bus driver Mikki Har'el survived by jumping out of a shattered window - the fourth time he has lived through a terror attack on his route.

Mr Har'el said his vehicle was almost full as he approached the junction where the bomb exploded. He said he saw soldiers "thrown against the side of the bus and the bus began to burn".

Mr Har'el pulled injured passengers who were lying in the road away from the fire, adding: " Apparently some of the passengers were trapped inside the bus. The flames prevented me from going in."

Sharon Levinger was dozing at the front of the bus. He said: "In an eyeblink, I saw a car passing and then there was an explosion. I was right by the door and I managed to kick it open and get out."

Soldier Ogen Drori, a medic, said: "I could not get near the bus, it was too hot. Personnel came out of the nearby prison. We started to deal with the injured - there were many soldiers."

Police commander Dov Rutsky said: "It's a tough sight, the bus is completely burnt out."

A chunk of mangled metal is all that remains of the car the suicide bomber was in.

The blast occurred as the bus pulled into a roadside station. Its route from Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast passes a number of mostly Arab towns, and both Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis were believed to have been on board.

The Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility, saying the bombing marked the 35th anniversary of the 1967 war in which Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The militant group called the bomber a "seeker of martyrdom".

Megiddo junction is a few miles north of the West Bank town of Jenin, the scene of fierce fighting after Israeli forces went in to seize Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli security cabinet met in emergency session today and Israeli retaliation was swift.

Palestinian officials said that two dozen Israeli armoured vehicles drove into Jenin today from three directions. Two attack helicopters fired machine guns toward one neighbourhood, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The latest attack came after Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon approved the construction of a 60-mile fence along part of the socalled Green Line dividing Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya from Israeli cities. Many of the recent suicide bombings have been carried out by Palestinians from these towns.

"Palestinian terrorists continue to target Israeli civilians," said David Baker, an official in prime minister Mr Sharon's office. There was no official Palestinian comment.

The attack came just hours after CIA chief George Tenet visited the area to push reforms that would make the Palestinian security services more effective in preventing terror attacks on Israeli.

At least 1,379 Palestinians and 486 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began in September 2000.

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