Eleven hurt in vehicular ramming attack near Jerusalem's Chords Bridge
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                  World Jewish News

                  Eleven hurt in vehicular ramming attack near Jerusalem's Chords Bridge

                  Eleven hurt in vehicular ramming attack near Jerusalem's Chords Bridge

                  14.12.2015, Israel

                  Eleven men, women and children were wounded – including a 15-month-old boy – in a vehicular terrorist attack carried out by an east Jerusalem Palestinian man who was shot dead in his car by police near the well-traveled Western entrance to the capital Thursday afternoon.

                  At approximately 3 p.m., the suspect, identified by Palestinian media as Abd al-Muhsam Hasuna, 24, of Beit Hanina, drove his white vehicle into a large group of pedestrians waiting at a bus stop on Herzl Street, adjacent to the iconic Chords Bridge, said Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

                  “Officers and security personnel patrolling the area responded immediately and neutralized the terrorist as he attempted to exit the car with an ax, killing him,” said Rosenfeld minutes following the attack.

                  “Of the 11 injuries, one victim is a 68-year-old woman, and another is an infant. Both are in moderate condition; the nine others are in light condition.”

                  Rosenfeld said all of the victims were treated at the scene by Magen David Adom and ZAKA paramedics before being rushed to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Facility and Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.

                  Israel Radio reporter, Miri Krimolovsky, said she witnessed the assailant’s car jump the curb and plow down the group on the sidewalk, before police and security officers killed the terrorist.

                  “I was about to turn left to Tel Aviv, [when] suddenly a car went up onto a bus stop, shots were immediately fired,” she said. “There are people in the stop... A number of people simply lifted up the car because there were people underneath it.”

                  Rosenfeld said traffic was suspended in both directions for 90 minutes, as police cordoned off the area, which was flooded by an overturned fire hydrant, to investigate if the suspect acted alone or is part of a larger terrorist cell.

                  A search of the man’s badly damaged vehicle uncovered a metal hand ax with a green handle.

                  ZAKA volunteer Yossi Frankel said he was among the first responders after receiving an emergency call at 3 p.m.

                  “The terrorist ran his car into a bus stop, ramming a fire hydrant, which made it very difficult to work because of flooding,” said Frankel.

                  “I helped one male victim, who is between 30 and 40, who was conscious with light-to-moderate upper body wounds. A one-and-a-half-year-old baby was also seriously injured and taken to the hospital.”

                  At 6 p.m., Hadassah University Medical center spokeswoman Hadar Elboim said the infant boy, who has been placed on a ventilator, was rushed into surgery in the pediatric trauma unit in an attempt to save his leg from being amputated.

                  “He’s in surgery now and is in very serious condition,” said Elboim. “But if anyone knows how to deal with this, it’s the doctors in this unit. They had to take him directly into surgery; they couldn’t wait.”

                  While she did not know the boy’s name, she said the family is asking the public to pray for him.

                  Meanwhile, Elboim said the 10 remaining victims are all in light condition, and will likely be discharged by tomorrow morning.

                  Frankel said ZAKA volunteers transferred the terrorist’s body to an area police station for forensic analysis and testing.

                  Following the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the security forces and citizens who helped save lives, and prevent greater carnage.

                  “We are facing a new kind of terror, that of individuals,” he told his Likud faction. “This presents a challenge, not only to us, but the entire world. I have no doubt we will overcome [the challenge].”

                  Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also praised the people on the scene for acting quickly to subdue the terrorist and prevent further injuries, and urged residents to not allow terrorism to force them to live in fear.

                  “As soon as possible, we must get back to routine, not give them a [sense of] achievement,” he said. “With all the pain of those injured, we must do this.”

                  Since the Palestinian terror wave hit the capital and West Bank in the beginning of October, 19 Israelis and a US citizen have been killed by gunfire or knife attacks, while over 100 Palestinians have been killed for carrying out attacks or rioting.

                  A poll recently published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 67 percent of Arab respondents supported stabbing attacks against Israelis and that, if the attacks were increased, they “would serve Palestinian national interests in ways that negotiations could not.”

                  In the meantime, Rosenfeld said police will continue to operate at the highest level of alert throughout the capital.

                  The Jerusalem Post Staff, Gil Hoffman and Reuters contributed to this report.

                  By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

                  JPost.com