An explosive device blasted the capital this morning injuring six persons, two of them seriously. The two are Arab employees of the city gardening department.
The explosion, which occurred at about 9:00 AM, took place in the city center, across the street from the municipal building where the device had been hidden in a flower bed. One of the injured, a municipal employee, suffered head wounds while four others were treated for shock at Hadassah, Hospital. An eyewitness told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter who arrived on the scene shortly after the explosion that a sixth victim apparently lost both his legs in the explosion.
Following the blast, the area was cordoned off by police who began investigating the cause of the explosion and rounding up possible suspects. The size and exact composition of the explosive device were not immediately determined. However a policeman on the scene said the device had been “unusually large.”
A senior police officer reacted angrily when asked if the explosion was possibly connected with the ongoing policemen’s strike. He noted that despite the strike, police forces in Jerusalem and elsewhere are on the alert as usual. Some police were on strike today in protest over the erosion of working conditions and the boning of a policeman’s union. However, border patrolmen, anti-terror personnel, sappers and prison guards did not join the strike.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
