Survivors recount bus attack

A passenger on the bus during the attack tells of the confusion as the attacker began slashing at the driver.

“I heard screams and I didn’t understand what was going on,” he says. “Everyone ran to the rear of the bus. The terrorist was half a meter from me. The driver didn’t manage to open the doors. As soon as he did everybody ran out.”

Liel Suissa, an 8th grade student on the bus, says he narrowly escaped from the attacker.

“I threw my bag at the terrorist when he got close to us to keep him away. The driver slammed on the brakes when he got close to us. The terrorist went flying and I kicked the window and the window broke and so we were able to exit. Also the driver opened the door,” he says.

The attack occurred as the bus, an urban line running from Bat Yam to the the city’s north, traversed the busy Maariv Bridge intersection at about 7:30 a.m., a time when it is packed with cars, buses and pedestrians.

Driver Herzl Biton’s niece, Heli Sousan, tells reporters outside the Ichilov Hospital that her uncle was in a serious condition with injuries to his liver, and was undergoing an operation.

She says Biton sprayed the terrorist with pepper spray in an effort to fight back against the assault.

“It is awful,” she says.

— Stuart Winer