Bomb Explosion Aboard Jerusalem Bus, 16 Casualties

Police said initial indicators pointed to a terror attack.

Bus explosion on Hebron Road, Jerusalem on Monday, 18 April 2016. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter.com/@GLZRadio)

An explosion aboard a bus in Jerusalem caused around 16 casualties on Monday, Israeli media said. Police said initial indications were that it was a militant attack.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, said the explosion was caused by a bomb.

A blast aboard a Jerusalem bus that wounded 16 people on Monday was caused by a bomb, a spokeswoman for the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, said.

It was small, but it was definitely a bomb.

<b>Brachie Sprung, Spokesperson for Nir Barkat</b>

The bus was empty when it caught fire before exploding.

Television images showed smoke billowing from a burned-out bus on Derech Hebron, in southwest Jerusalem. It was not immediately clear if the casualties were dead or wounded.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said it had taken 10 wounded people to hospitals and that others remained at the blast site.

Attacks on Israeli buses by suicide bombers were a hallmark of the Palestinian uprising in 2000-2005, but have been rare since.

An Israeli police spokeswoman initially said there were indications that Monday’s incident was a militant attack, but in an updated statement, said it may have begun when an empty bus caught fire, ignited another bus that had passengers aboard.