Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds dozens on bus in
Jerusalem rush hour
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - A suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded
Jerusalem city bus during morning's rush hour, killing himself and
10 passengers and wounding dozens, police sources said. Many school
children were on the bus, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack,
the first in Jerusalem since August.
The bomber set off the explosives in Jerusalem's Kiryat Menachem
neighborhood at about 7:15 a.m.
Several bodies still lay near the bus after at least 38 wounded
were taken to hospitals. Seven of the wounded were in serious
condition.
Children's sandwiches and schoolbooks lay scattered in the street
around the shattered bus, Yaron Enosh, an Israel Radio reporter
said, noting that the bus exploded at a time when children go to
school.
"There are students among the wounded," Yeruham Mandola,
spokesman for the Magen David Adom paramedic service, told Israel
Radio. He could not say how many of the wounded were
schoolchildren.
David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office,
condemned the attack.
"Palestinian terrorists continue to cling to the bloodshed agenda
and they are satisfied only when innocent Israeli lives are taken,"
Baker told The Associated Press.
The explosion on Mexico Street in a neighborhood near Jerusalem's
largest hospital, Hadassah Ein Kerem, was the first bombing since
Nov. 4, when a bomber blew himself up at a shopping mall in central
Israel.
The Israeli army has reoccupied most Palestinian towns and cities
in the West Bank to try and halt the bombings that have been an
integral part of 26 months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
On Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian leaders had talked about
restarting the peace process.
Senior Palestinian officials welcomed a call by Israel's new
opposition leader to restart talks, but held back outright
endorsement - apparently fearing it would hurt the ex-general's
chances in January elections.
Many Palestinians are eager for the removal of Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, who - during 20 months in office - has ravaged the
Palestinian security forces, cracked down on militant groups and
sent troops to reoccupy and impose curfews on most Palestinian
cities in the West Bank. (Published
12:30AM, November 21st, 2002)
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