A powerful explosion ripped apart an Egged bus Wednesday afternoon in Haifa’s Carmeliya neighborhood, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 40, at least 10 of them seriously. Police said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber sitting at the rear of the bus. The blast, which took place on the city’s main Moriah Boulevard near the Carmel Center at 2:17 P.M., turned the number 37 bus into a charred wreck and scattered bodies along the road. Because of the hour, the bus would have been packed with students from the nearby University of Haifa, officials said. Channel One reported that police estimated the bomber was wearing an explosive belt weighing around 50 kilograms. Northern District Commander Yaakov Borovsky estimated that the bomber did not get on the bus at the last possible stop before the blast. Police are also trying to find out who transported the bomber to the location of the attack, and said that there had not been any specific warnings of an attack in the Haifa area. Israel Radio reported that police were also probing the possibility that the blast was caused by an explosive device that had been left on the bus, rather than a suicide bomber. Full Story
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