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Lunch-hour bomb rocks Jerusalem university

August 1 2002

A bomb exploded in a crowded cafeteria at Hebrew University during lunchtime yesterday, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 70, Israeli authorities and the media said.

The blast, in the university's Frank Sinatra International Student Centre, came at a time when classes were not in session.

However, the broad-based student body, which includes Jews, Arabs and foreign students, were taking exams and the cafeteria was full when the blast went off.

Witnesses initially said they believed a suicide bomber was responsible. But police later said the explosion was caused by a bomb left in a cafeteria.

"We're talking about an explosive device, apparently not a suicide bomber. It is being checked," said Jerusalem's Deputy Police Chief Ilan Franco.

Israeli government spokesman Danny Seaman said six people were dead, and rescue services said more than 70 were injured, some critically. There was no immediate word on the nationalities of the casualties.

Police later said at least seven people had been killed in the blast.

Alastair Goldrein, 19, from Liverpool, England, said the cafeteria was a place where Jewish, Arab and foreign students mixed freely.

"I was on my way to lunch. There was a huge, huge explosion. Everything shook and then there was this deathly silence," said Goldrein, who has been taking Jewish studies at the university for the past year.

"I ran in, there were people lying around wailing, covered in blood. Scenes that are indescribable, clothes and flesh torn apart."

The blast was at the university's Mt Scopus campus, a Jewish enclave surrounded by Palestinian neighbourhoods in the eastern part of the city. The university has extremely heavy security.

Sirens wailing, rescue vehicles rushed to the scene, swiftly removing bloodied victims. Sniffer dogs checked to see if any additional bombs were in the area.

"Israel is fighting a pitched battle against terror and for the right to walk down the street, take a bus or sit in a cafeteria without the fear of being decimated by Palestinian terrorism," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.

The blast came a day after a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a fast-food stand in Jerusalem, killing himself and wounding several Israelis. That explosion was also near the dividing line between east and west Jerusalem.

Palestinian suicide bombers have carried out more than 70 attacks, killing more than 250 Israelis, in the current round of Mideast fighting. Jerusalem has been hit more than any other city.



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