A powerful car bomb exploded next to a bus, engulfing it in flames during the morning rush hour on Wednesday. At least 18 people were killed and more than 37 injured, police and rescue workers said.
The blast went off on a road near the town of Megiddo as people were heading to work shortly after 7 am, regional police chief Yaakov Borovsky said.
”A car drove alongside the bus and exploded. The bus burst into flames, and it’s a tough sight, the bus is completely burnt out,” he told army radio.
Witnesses said some passengers were trapped alive in the burning bus. One couple burned to death as they hugged each other, an Israel Army Radio reporter at the scene said. Only the scorched metal skeleton remained of the bus.
The blast was claimed by the group Islamic Jihad, according to the television station of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement in Beirut.
The bus left from Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast, and was making several stops in northern Israel. The route passes a number of mostly Arab towns, and both Arabs and Jews were believed to be on the bus, authorities said.
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 18 people were killed and three were critically injured. The Magen David Adom rescue service said at least 37 people were hurt.
Megiddo is just a few kilometres across the border from the northern West Bank, and has a large prison where many Palestinians are held by Israel. Many Palestinian bombers have come from the northern West Bank.
Palestinian bombers have carried out dozens of bombing attacks since the current Mideast fighting erupted in September 2000.
”Palestinian terrorists continue to target Israeli civilians,” said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office. ”This terror attack shows that the Palestinians have no intention of giving up their campaign.”
Wednesday’s bombing came a day after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat presented CIA chief George Tenet with a plan to restructure the Palestinian security forces. The United States and Israel have been demanding a revamping of the security forces, with an aim to stopping attacks against Israel.
Arafat appointed Ahmed Razak Yehiyeh (73) to head the new security system, a choice that bypassed many of the more prominent security commanders. Israel said the proposed changes were largely cosmetic.
Israeli forces have surrounded most Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank, and make almost daily raids to go after suspected militants. The actions produced a brief lull in the number of attacks, but they have been steadily increasing again. – Sapa-AP