The blast followed an explosion in northern Israel on Wednesday which killed an Israeli policeman and ended a six-week lull in suicide bombings, raising fears in Israel of a new wave of such attacks and again dimming peace hopes.

(China Daily September 20, 2002)

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which defied calls by President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for an end to attacks against Israeli civilians in the two-year-old uprising against occupation.

Ambulances raced to tree-lined Allenby Street where the bus exploded near cafes and restaurants packed during the lunch hour.

The ground next to the bus was scattered with pools of blood and the belongings of the passengers. Ambulance crews ferried bleeding passengers, some with their clothes blown off their bodies, to hospitals. Some were badly burnt.

Police said five people were killed and about 50 hurt, and that the suicide bomber blew himself up at the front of the bus.

A woman who said she had been standing next to the bomber before disembarking said he wore a buttoned-up jacket, had black hair and a moustache and "had a very strange look on his face."

Tiran Soloman, the 32-year-old owner of a nearby cafe, ran to pull people out. "Some were lying on their seats, completely burned, and in agony."

Witnesses said the bus exploded moments after picking up passengers at the bus stop. Passengers crawled out to safety through the shattered windows.

"The bus exploded. It kept moving slowly like it was driven by a ghost, and then crashed into the curb and stopped," said Andres Sevilla, a 27-year-old Argentine cleaning worker. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to convene his security cabinet later yesterday to consider what action to take following the attack.

Israel blamed the bombing on Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, whose position has been undermined by the refusal of Islamic militant groups to heed calls to end suicide attacks.

Officials in the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements hailed the bombings and said they reflected the Palestinians' resilience to fight occupation despite Israel's military control over most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.