Seven die in Jerusalem bus bombing

JERUSALEM - A suicide bomber blew up on a crowded Israeli commuter bus in Jerusalem last night (NZT), killing at least seven people and wounding dozens.

The blast came a day before the World Court starts hearings in The Hague on the legality of a barrier in the West Bank that Israel says keeps suicide bombers out, but which Palestinians call a land grab.

"If there was a fence around Jerusalem there would not have been an attack today," said Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid.

Israel has begun dismantling an 8km section of the barrier in a move it says is unrelated to the hearings.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the latest suicide bombing.

The explosion turned the bus into a charred skeleton at a busy intersection near the Inbal Hotel, where leaders of major American Jewish organisations were meeting.

"People were screaming 'Mummy, daddy'," said medic Reuven Pohl. "There were body parts everywhere, including some hands and feet scattered outside the bus."

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy said the suicide bomber blew up in the middle of the bus during the morning rush hour at the start of the Israeli working week, killing at least seven and wounding about 60.

Weeping pedestrians streamed from the scene. After the bus was towed away, ultra-Orthodox Jews, who retrieve body parts for a proper burial, picked up pieces of flesh from where the vehicle had stood.

Police said the bomb was packed with metal shards to make it more deadly.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

- REUTERS