Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

In Israel, Suicide Bombing Claims At Least Eight Lives

Aired April 10, 2002 - 07:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, in Israel, the first suicide bombing against civilians in more than a week claims at least eight lives on board a bus during the rush hour in Haifa.

Let's get the very latest now from CNN's Chris Burns, who joins us from Haifa this morning -- good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. We are on that strip of highway just south of Haifa, where the explosion occurred just after 7:00 a.m. An express commuter bus packed with at least 50 people inside that had just left the outskirts of Haifa, the Port of Haifa, when the explosion went off.

According to local police, they say that it was a male suicide bomber with an explosives belt strapped to him. It went off just about one stop after he got on. The explosion, according to witnesses, was so intense it raised the bus off the ground. And as you can see, it shredded at least the front part of that bus.

We found also even BBs on the ground here in this area, which apparently means that the bomb was packed with anti-personnel BBs to cause as much physical harm as possible.

Let's go back here to the highway. We just saw a few moments ago a body retrieval group that had retrieved body parts, not only from the highway here -- we see blood splattered on the ground -- as well as from the field of this kibbutz nearby -- a very, very intense explosion.

So far, authorities say at least eight people dead, but the body count could rise. Because there were so many body parts that were scattered, they are not entirely sure that it was eight people; 14 others in the hospital, three of them in serious condition.

We talked to one of these gentlemen, who goes around to pick up these body parts, and he came just about 20 minutes after the blast. This is what he said he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The condition for sure you know that it is not (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of that condition. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from this bomb, you know, you never find a whole body. It was many bodies (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but a lot of parts of bodies. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: The claim of responsibility so far is by the Hamas militant group, according to Al Jazeera Television. However, the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon is blaming front and center Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. This obviously is going to make it much more difficult when Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to arrive here tomorrow to try to broker some kind of a cease-fire, let alone a peace deal.

ZAHN: All right, Chris Burns, thanks so much for that update. See you a little bit later on in the morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.