Man hurt in Jerusalem car blast; police suspect criminal activity

A man was injured in a car explosion in central Jerusalem on Wednesday morning in what police are describing as a criminal incident and not a terrorist attack.

A large blast was heard in the area at around 8.30 a.m., followed by numerous sirens as emergency service vehicles rushed to the scene.

Magen David Adom paramedics removed the wounded 57-year-old man from the badly damaged car on Mapu Street, before taking him to the hospital. He was described as being in moderate condition.

There were no other occupants of the car, and there did not appear to be damage to other cars or adjacent buildings.

The explosion took place in a white Citroen Berlingo transit vehicle traveling from King David Street towards the nearby Keren Hayesod Street.

In addition to medical personnel, large numbers of police — including bomb sappers — arrived at the scene and quickly cordoned off the area. Police said it was possible there were more explosives in the car.

“It is a criminal incident,” a police spokesman told The Times of Israel, who said that they “are looking into the incident and damage caused to the vehicle.”

Aviel Yeshar, 21, was woken by the blast in his apartment further up Mapu Street.

“I felt the apartment shake,” said Yeshar, who was visiting Israel from Florida for an internship as an electrical engineer.

He looked out of a window and saw “the car with parts everywhere, and there was a foul smell in the air.”

It was Yeshar’s second brush with danger in Israel — earlier his month he was in downtown Jerusalem and witnessed police arresting a would-be Palestinian terrorist who was caught with explosives in his bag.

“I never expected to be so close,” he said.