The JC reports:
There are unconfirmed reports that three people have been killed in an explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.
Local media in the resort of Burgas claim the bus was outside the Sarafovo airport and was packed with Israelis.
Bulgarian radio said three people had been killed. It is thought at least 20 have been injured.
The explosion is thought to have occurred at around 6pm local time.
Burgas is the second largest resort on the country’s Black Sea coast. It is popular with Israeli tourists and is home to a Chabad centre.
Perhaps not co-incidentally, this is also the anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Argentina, carried out by Iran.
Joseph adds:
There were two buses that exploded, not just one. This was a terror attack.
Haaretz reported back in January:
The head of Israel’s Counterterrorism Bureau said Thursday evening that it has no concrete information regarding a possible terrorist attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.
The bureau emphasized that the initial warning from the head of security at the Transportation Ministry regarding increased security in European countries took place over three weeks ago.
However, the Transportation Ministry insisted the threats are credible and that Israeli tourists in Europe should be vigilant.
Earlier, Danny Shenar, head of security at the Transportation Ministry, told Haaretz that he asked European security services “to tighten security around groups of Israelis in various resorts like ski resorts and hotels.” According to Shenar, “I asked to formally tighten security because I am worried about a security-related incident.”
Shenar added: “I’ve asked security services in Europe to escort groups of Israelis and conduct searches with police dogs.”
Last year, Israeli embassies throughout the world received several suspected terror threats that coincided with the third anniversary of the death of Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s deputy leader.
Jerusalem Post, same week:
Israel recently asked Bulgaria, for example, to increase its security over Israeli tour groups in the capital city of Sofia. According to Sofia News Agency, a Hezbollah plot was recently uncovered by local security agencies, which warned Israel.
Israel’s Channel 10 reports that a suicide bomber boarded the bus.
(Antizionist) political tweeter Joseph Dana:
Bulgaria Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the blast targeting Israeli tourists in Burgus was carried out by a suicide bomber.
BBC News 24 reports “an explosion” on a bus “thought to be carrying Israeli tourists.” Bulgaria’s Frog News claims that up to 20 people have been killed. Hurriyet of Turkey currently reports the attack as an ‘attack’, in speech marks. The Guardian reports:
Witnesses speaking to Israel‘s Channel 2 TV said that a person boarded the bus and a huge explosion immediately followed.
Ynet reports that most tourists on the bus were teenagers.
Here’s the Google Translate of a Bulgarian news article from Capital, edited slightly:
The incident happened in the parking lot by the “arrivals”. The front of the bus is literally gone, due to the blast. It is not yet clear whether it this was an act terrorism, or that the blast was linked to the summer tourist season, which is in full swing. The identities of the victims have not yet been established. The blast caused damage to several buses parked in the area. Bourgas airport is closed, with flights are diverted away from the airport. In the Israeli media reports have appeared which suggest that this was most likely an attack carried out by a suicide bomber. […] A representative from the Jewish community said that the blast probably activated by remote control, after the passengers were accommodated oton the bus. Another eyewitness told website Burgas24, he saw a man running who threw something on the bus. It was suggested that Israeli tourists arrived on a flight of “Air Via” from Tel Aviv.Information online at Burgas Airport shows that the plane had landed at 16:50 [local time] .According to the eyewitnesses quoted by the “log” after arriving tourists were taken on a bus to Sunny Beach. The blast has become less then the car park at the airport. According to the BNR 3 parked buses were blown up at the airport. Panic is rampant because the parking lot full of cars, taxis and tourists, transmit agencies. “Everywhere there are body parts, is staggering,” said a witness of what happened to the site Burgas24. According to BNT blast happened on Bourgas Airport shortly after 17:30. The group included a total of 40 Israeli travelers who had arrived for the 8-day summer vacation in Bulgaria.
Alan A adds
From the blog Ottomans and Zionists, this is worth reading:
This post is not about Israeli politics. I mean that in a figurative sense as well, since do not for even one second think that the massacring of Israeli tourists has anything at all to do with Israeli politics, Israeli policy in the West Bank, Israeli treatment of Palestinians, or anything else that Israel does. There is simply no excuse under the sun to blow up civilians, and the victims of the terrorist attack on that bus were not targeted because they are Israelis or because some deranged lunatic thinks that Bibi Netanyahu is not serious about establishing an independent Palestinian state. The innocents on that bus were murdered in cold blood for being Jews, plain and simple. Anyone who suggests otherwise needs to not only be dismissed outright, but to be shouted down, publicly shamed, and made to feel foolish for wallowing in abject ignorance. The word “Israel” should only enter this conversation for the purpose of identifying the citizenship of the people who were killed.
Joseph adds:
Significantly, the internationally-respected news outlet El Pais of Spain is noting this as an attack. Headline:
“Al menos tres israelíes muertos en un ataque contra un autobús en Bulgaria”
At least 3 Israelis dead in an attack on a bus in Bulgaria
The El Pais column continues:
Shosh Elyer, survivor of the attack, told the digital edition of Yediot Aharonot that the explosiion happened minutes after the groups got on the vehicle: “The bus next us exploded. There was smoke everywhere and people running about hysterically. We got off the bus and Security immediately placed us in the terminal.
Aviva Malka, who also witnessed the attack, spoke to Israeli radio from the airport. She said that this was probably a suicide bomb. “We think it was a suicide attack”, said Malka. “We sat in the coach, and after a few seconds we heard a big explosion and we came out running. We managed to escape through a hole in the bus. We saw bodies and many injured people”, she said.
Sky News is also reporting the likelihood of a terror attack, and alludes to possible involvement of Hezbollah.
The Mayor of Burgos tells Bulgarian media that 33 Israeli Jews are in hospital, and 9 Israeli Jews are still missing.
Reuters now reporting:
Update: Bulgarian Interior Minister says bus blast was deliberate attack – state radio BNR
