Three killed in tourist bus blast in Bulgaria

Written By Unknown on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 | 10:45 AM

Smoke rises over Bulgaria's Burgas Airport on Wednesday after an explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists.
Smoke rises over Bulgaria's Burgas Airport on Wednesday after an explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists.
  • NEW: Man saw the bus explode, helped drag unconscious woman to safety
  • NEW: "I cannot forget the sight of body parts scattered around the bus," he says
  • Israeli foreign ministry says bus was carrying Israeli tourists
  • Israeli foreign ministry says it is unclear whether there was an attack

(CNN) -- At least three people were killed in an explosion on a bus outside Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, an interior ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The Israeli foreign ministry said that the explosion occurred on a bus carrying Israeli tourists from the airport on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and that there were a number of casualties.

Vania Valkova, director of the Bulgarian interior ministry press office, was not able to confirm the nationalities of those killed.

Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon also said there were three dead in the explosion.

He told Israel Radio, "We cannot confirm yet that this is a terrorist incident, but Iran and Hezbollah have been responsible for incidents like this in the past."

The tourists' plane landed in Bulgaria at 5 p.m., the Israeli foreign ministry said. Valkova said the bus was in the parking zone when the blast occurred.

Oran Katz, an Israeli who was on a bus next to the one that blew up, together with his wife and three children, described a bloody scene.

"The moment were got on (the bus), we heard a very loud explosion. It was the third bus next to us. Everyone started running in all directions. There was a big chaos," he said.

"We took our children with us and ran as far as we could away from the explosion. My oldest daughter is handicapped, so I decided to run back in order to pick up her wheelchair.

"There was a big blaze of fire, and we were not allowed to come near. Suddenly, I noticed an unconscious woman laying next to me, very close to the burning bus. I picked her up together with another man, and we managed to drag her out of the fire that was about to catch her body in seconds.

"I cannot forget the sight of body parts scattered around the bus. Ambulances and fire trucks have just started to arrive."

Katz, who then ran back to his family so they could get to the safety of their hotel, said he saw at least six people around him who were injured and bloodied.

"I was not able to see anything of what was happening inside the bus that exploded. It was burning heavily," he added.

All the Israeli travelers who were on the seven buses outside the terminal had arrived on the same flight out of Israel, Katz said.

Israel's Channel 10 station reported that there had been a combined attack of gunfire and explosives outside Burgas airport.

CNN's Guy Azriel, Stephanie Halasz and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.

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