Victims trapped after fireball engulfs bus

The sleek green bus lay like a wounded beast by the side of the mountain road near the Jewish holy city of Safed: its back and flanks blown out, its roof buckled, its inside blackened and smouldering from a fireball that raged for 10 minutes before firefighters brought it under control.

Witnesses reported the stench of burning flesh. Among the debris of the No 361 bus, travelling from the port city of Haifa to Safed in the morning rush hour, rescuers found a child's drawing of entwined hearts.

Nine passengers were killed and more than 50 wounded when a Hamas bomber blew it up at a bus stop at the foot of Mount Meron, where Jewish pilgrims visit the tomb of the 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 1,200 metres(4,000ft) above sea level.

Many of the casualties were soldiers returning to their bases in the north from weekend leave. Hours later, religious volunteers were still retrieving fragments of flesh for burial. Hanan Sofer, head of the local Red Star of David ambulance service, was one of the first on the scene. "I have been working in the field for 22 years," he said, "and I have never seen such an atrocious scene.

"The bus was burning, mainly at the back, and the roof had been blown off. Some of the wounded were strewn along the road and others were trapped within the burning bus and were screaming for help. Most of them were suffering from severe burns and there was a lot of blood flowing."

Avraham Freed, who owns a restaurant near the Meron junction where the explosion took place, said: "There was a lot of screaming, horrible screaming inside the bus. I saw one person on the ground next to the bus. I saw bodies, parts of bodies, people jumping out of windows."

A restaurant worker, identified only as Yardena, told the Israeli army radio station: "I saw an unbelievably huge ball of fire. Until you see something like that, you don't believe it."

Pinhas Cohen was standing about five metres away when the bomb went off. "The entire rear end of the bus was blown off," he said. "A soldier came out with his face and uniform covered with blood. Two Arabs from the nearby restaurant gave him first aid."

Another witness, Haim Itzkotitch, was just leaving his house to cycle to work when the bus exploded. "I heard a big bomb," he said, "and I could see flames in the air. At first everything was quiet. I went into the bus through the door and I could see men and women lying on the floor." A moment later, he heard survivors crying out for help.

The Galilee carnage came four days after another Hamas bomb killed seven students and staff at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. As well as invading the old city of Nablus, Israel was already planning retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets. Yesterday's attack – and others in Jerusalem and the roads of the West Bank – will sharpen its determination to act.

Raanan Gissin, the Prime Minister's spokesman, blamed the Palestinian Authority as much as the Islamic militants. He accused Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian president, of leading his people "further along the road to self-destruction." He urged the Palestinians to "take their destiny in their hands and realise that they are going nowhere".

Ariel Sharon's spokesman claimed that the entire Palestinian leadership – not just Mr Arafat, who celebrated his 73rd birthday yesterday – was "infected" by terrorism. "They continue to incite for terrorism," he said.

While Israel would fight relentlessly against terrorism, Mr Gissin added, it would also persevere with efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. "They have another opportunity," he said. "We hope a leadership will emerge that really cares for its own people."

There are increasing signs of disenchantment in the streets and salons of the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians do not need Israel to remind them that the intifada has brought them nothing but grief since it broke out 22 months ago. But they are not ready to change their leader just because Mr Sharon or President Bush tells them to.