At least 17 dead in Jerusalem bus bombing

At least 17 people were killed and 70 were wounded today by a suicide bombing on a bus in central Jerusalem.

The Hamas militant group claimed responsibility after threatening bloody revenge for an Israeli bid to kill one of its political leaders.

The bombing “is a message to all the Zionist criminals that they are not safe and that the Palestinian fighters are capable of reaching them everywhere,” said Mahmoud Zahar, another Hamas leader.

Today’s explosion went off during evening rush hour on the number 14 bus on Jaffa Street, Jerusalem’s main thoroughfare, near the Mahane Yehuda outdoor market which has repeatedly been targeted by Palestinian militants in the past.

It's believed the suicide bomber was disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

Gershon Kletzkin, a rescue worker, said he was in a nearby jewellery store when he heard the explosion. Kletzkin said he saw a plume of smoke and people being hurled into the air.

Hagid Stein, who works at a shoe shop down the street, said she had just got off the bus when the blast went off.

“I didn’t know where to go, where to run,” she said, shaking and crying. “I don’t believe I am so lucky.”

The blast blew out windows and tore a large hole into the left side of the red-and-white bus. The bus had just left Jerusalem’s nearby central bus station when the explosion went off.

Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said: “We are talking about a big explosive device that was set off by a suicide bomber.”

Seventy people were wounded, including eight who were in a critical condition, paramedics said.