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CNN Live At Daybreak

Latest on Suicide Bombing in Israel

Aired May 08, 2002 - 06:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: For the latest, the very latest on that suicide bombing, we want to go live again to CNN's Carol Lin, who is live in the town of Rishon Letzion -- Carol, bring us up to date.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Carol, just to give you perspective, we are about 15 miles away from the city of Tel Aviv. And what you are seeing behind me -- I'm going to step aside so you can see it -- is the scene of the destruction. At the center of that room where there is a cluster of people and a gold light stand that fell from the ceiling, that is literally where the suicide bomber detonated his explosive.

And what we are being told by some of the people on the scene is that he walked up three flights of stairs into this billiard pool hall, a gambling parlor essentially. He walked straight into the middle of the room, which is where you are looking right now, and he opened up a suitcase, which triggered a massive explosion.

People on the scene are telling me that there may have been as much as 10 to 15 kilograms of explosive material inside that suitcase. I am told that is considered massive. And the explosion, you can see just some of the debris hanging from the ceiling, charred remains there of tables and different things, the slot machines back there.

And what is astounding here, Carol, is when I tell you that it's on the third story, this is a new tactic. Normally, Israelis feel relatively safe when you are above ground. Most of the attacks have taken place in open areas on the ground or first-level restaurants. This man managed to make it up three flights of stairs. We are told there was no security guard, but there was some security in place.

And what people are saying also is the reason why they didn't have a security guard here is because everybody knew each other. All of the patrons knew each other. For this man to make it up all those stairs up to this level, with a suitcase beyond suspicion, open it up in the middle of the room, what they are saying is that the other patrons had to know him by face.

And inside that suitcase, inside that explosive device, let me show you these lug nuts here you usually see at a hardware store in the United States. These become a lethal weapon. When the explosion took place, essentially they become a series of flying bullets. And just to give you an example of the kind of damage that can occur, imagine if this was a human body, Carol. There are 15 people dead, at least 60 people wounded. And I am told out of those 60 people, there are 11 who are in very critical condition, and they may soon join the numbers who have died here at this pool hall -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Carol, I have a question. Ariel Sharon is blaming Yasser Arafat for this attack. We have word that Hamas is taking responsibility. What are you hearing?

LIN: Nobody knows. Yes, we have heard the same claims of responsibility by Hamas, and as you know, there are different factions within the PLO, different militias that operate in these areas. And Yasser Arafat and his people have also made it perfectly clear that they don't control every movement, every operation, every decision by every human being.

But we are hearing the same thing that Hamas is taking responsibility. We have no confirmed report of that. But it is very clear that the chief Palestinian negotiator has severely condemned this attack and has pledged that the Palestinian Authority and what's left of its security forces promises to track down any suspect connected with this explosion.

COSTELLO: All right. Carol Lin, thank you very much for that live report.

There was another suicide bombing about 19 miles south of Haifa too this morning. We understand the suicide bomber is dead, and a couple of people were injured. We'll try to get you an update about that too.

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