Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, May 18, 2003
7 Killed in Jerusalem Suicide Bombings
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled his planned trip late Sunday to Washington for mideast peace talk, soon after two suicide bombs killed at least seven in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled his planned trip late Sunday to Washington for mideast peace talk, soon after two suicide bombs killed at least seven in Jerusalem.
According to an announcement of Sharon's office, the trip has been postponed because of the fatal attacks. The prime minister will meet with his advisors on how to handle the situation.
Seven people were killed and twenty others injured, four in critical condition, in the attacks early Sunday, Israeli police and television reports said.
A suicide bomber blew himself up on an bus of Israel's nationalbus company in the north of the city early Sunday morning, Israeli police source said.
Loud sirens were heard and ambulances seen rushed to the sites, according to local TV reports.
Local police said that the attack, on bus Number 6, took place shortly before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) near Jerusalem's French Hill region.
A Jerusalem police officer told Israel radio that a large amount of explosives was used in the attack and the bus was destroyed.
The second suicide bomber detonated explosives not far away from the site of the first attack, at the entrance to the Dahiya el-Barid village near Jerusalem. The blast killed only the bomber.
No one has claimed responsibility for any of the two attacks.
The two suicide bombings came just a few hours after the first meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas ended in Sharon's office in Jerusalem.