A large explosion caused by a suicide bombing that took place on Monday evening injured 21 people. The injuries of two people, one of which was the Palestinian bomber, were described as dangerous. The incident took place on a large passenger bus that was heading west on the Hebron Road. The whole bus was burnt down and the fire spread to another bus which was parked beside it on the road used to get from the south of the city to the east.

The injured were transported in another bus and a private car. Two people were severely injured, seven people were inflicted with moderate injuries and the rest suffered from mild injuries caused by smoke inhalation. According to sources in east Jerusalem, there was at least one Palestinian among the wounded. Later it turned out that the bomber was the injured Palestinian, according to Israeli sources.

The cause of the explosion remained unknown until late yesterday. At the beginning Israeli sources said that the explosion was caused by a terrorist act, and radio and television broadcasts were stopped in Israel. The west Jerusalem municipality issued a statement condemning Palestinians and claimed that they planted a bomb on the bus.

However, the Israeli police asked the public not to jump to conclusions and said they were investigating the matter and did not rule out the possibility that the explosion was caused by a defect in the bus engine.