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Driver rams bulldozer into Jerusalem bus, wounding people | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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JERUSALEM (AP) – A Palestinian bulldozer driver went on a rampage on a busy Jerusalem street Wednesday, plowing into a string of vehicles, killing two people and wounding dozens of others before he was shot dead by police.

The attack wreaked havoc in downtown Jerusalem. Traffic was halted, and hundreds of people fled through the streets in panic as medics treated the wounded.

At the scene of the attack, two cars were flattened and a third was overturned. A bus also was overturned, and another bus was heavily damaged. Israel’s national rescue service confirmed two deaths, and the two bodies lay motionless on the ground covered in plastic.

“I saw the bulldozer smash the car with its shovel. He smashed the guy sitting in the driver’s seat,” said Yaakov Ashkenazi, an 18-year-old seminary student.

Israel’s national rescue service said at 22 people were wounded, with at least 14 people hospitalized.

Injured people sat dazed on the ground amid piles of broken glass and blood stains on the street. A baby had blood all over its face, and the driver of the bulldozer was slumped motionless over the steering wheel. “Where’s the baby? Where’s the baby?” said one witness.

Yosef Spielman, who witnessed the attack, said the bulldozer picked up a car “like a toy.”

“I was shocked. I saw a guy going crazy,” he said. “All the people were running. They had no chance.”

In a statement, police said a “terrorist” had carried out the attack but gave no further details.

The attack occurred in an area where Jerusalem is building a new train system. The project has turned many parts of the city into a big construction zone.