Sixteen Plus the Palestinian Killed By Suicide Bomb
17 were killed and at least 45 injured

June 5, 2002
by Colin Adamson

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 in armoured vehicles and tanks into the West Bank city of Jenin and there were 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 near the city of Megiddo, which is the 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 had lived through a terror attack on his route. Mr Har'el 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." Soldier 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."

A chunk of mangled metal is all that remained 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 be 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". Today's blast prompted an angry reaction in Israel. The Israeli security cabinet met in emergency session.

The bombing was the worst suicide attack since Israel began its recent offensive in the West Bank and will be a severe blow to diplomatic efforts.

The attack came hours after CIA chief George Tenet visited the area to push reforms aimed at making the Palestinian security services more effective in preventing terror attacks. The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing and rejected Israel's charge that their president, Yasser Arafat, was responsible.

Palestinian bombers have carried out dozens of attacks since the current Middle East fighting erupted in September 2000. Israeli forces have surrounded most Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank, and make almost daily raids to go after suspected militants.

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