Eyewitness: Jerusalem attack

Dozens were injured at the crowded bus stop

By Tarik Kafala BBC News Online, Jerusalem

The sound of the bomb rang out clearly across Jerusalem, followed two or three minutes later by the whine of sirens.

Within 15 minutes, when I got close to the bomb scene, police were trying to move the gathering crowd away.

All our police, all our army and we still get this all the time. I don't know if attacking the Palestinians is good, but we must do something

Israeli shopkeeper

A Palestinian woman had detonated a huge bomb after a bus pulled up at a crowded bus stop.

The force of the blast had blown out the windows of the bus. And all around, the street was strewn with fruit, vegetables and pieces of glass.

The scene was one of chaos. Scores of injured wandered towards the ambulances. Some, bloodied and crying, were tended to by medics.

Rescue workers in their orange sleeveless jackets ran through their well-practised routine of treating the injured and ferrying them away.

Investigators

The more severely injured, some with clothes stripped from their body by the blast, were carried away on stretchers.

The scene was one of chaos and confusion

Finally, the bodies of the dead, which had been covered in blankets, were put into ambulances and taken away.

As the investigators started their work, mounted police arrived to push the crowds further back.

There was a palpable anger among those gathered, which grew after the injured and dead had been taken away.

Chanting

"You see. You see why we have to attack?" one woman said.

A half-hearted chant of, "No Arabs, no terror", went up, and a man started shouting that the "Arabs must go".

Another, a Jewish American, said that that attack was a "welcome home party for Powell".

The area around the bus was strewn with fruit and vegetables

"He loves the Arabs and this is how they welcome him. Let him come and see this."

Down the road, outside the Bikum Cholim Hospital, a quiet crowd had gathered outside to watch the ambulances arrive.

Many were likely waiting for news of their family members and friends.

Nearby, a shopkeeper was closing up for the Jewish Sabbath.

"All our police, all our army and we still get this all the time. I don't know if attacking the Palestinians is good, but we must do something. What can we do?"