Witnesses of two explosions that rocked Jerusalem on Wednesday morning were speaking about being caught in the crossfire of the horrific terror attacks, which some say reminded them of "the dark days" of the Second Intifada.
The explosions at two bus stops in the capital left a teenager dead and at least 26 people wounded, some in critical condition. The police said the explosives had likely been placed at the locations earlier and detonated remotely.
“We were inside the Magen David Adom station near the entrance to Jerusalem when we heard an explosion and headed to the scene,” MDA paramedics Moshe Tobulski said. “Two people suffered serious wounds and were lying still. One of them, a 16-year-old youth, was inside the bus stop, and a 45-year-old man was lying on the road nearby.
“Others who were hurt were still fully conscience, and suffered minor to moderate injuries. We placed those who were seriously wounded in an ambulance and evacuated them to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem while still treating them inside the ambulance.”
Another explosion occurred at Ramot Junction in the capital, where three people suffered minor injuries. Danny Shmueli and Yossi Eisenstein, paramedics at United Hatzalah emergency medical services, said they heard the moment of the explosion when riding their bikes.
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Public Security Minister Omer Barlev at the scene of the attack
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
“We arrived at the scene within a few seconds and treated three people who suffered minor injuries due to shrapnel, and other United Hatzalah paramedics treated several people who suffered anxiety attacks,” one of them said.
Yohanan Brent, a volunteer at ZAKA, told Ynet he was on his way to catch the bus to work when he heard the explosion next to the bus stop
Brent said that the fact only three people suffered minor injuries from the blast is "a miracle."
"I and many others started running. The front of the bus seemed like it exploded, it reminded me of the darker days.”
Shahar Sorakis and Neta Vershevski, two 14-year-old girls who go to school in the Ramot neighborhood, were at the scene of the explosion. “We were on the bus on the parallel side of the road, about to head to school. We heard a noise and saw many people running, many children were crying.
“We saw shrapnel flying off of the bus - it was a mess. A nerve-wracking situation,” Neta said. “When we realized it was an explosion, many girls started crying, we were all very nervous,” Shahar added.
Shortly the attack, the Jerusalem District Police began extensive searches at bus and light rail stops as well as other locations with large concentrations of people. Sniffer dogs, patrol officers and police cavalry are participating in the searches, while at the same time the security forces are trying to track down the terrorists who planted the explosives.