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Rampage In Jerusalem Kills 3

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The Associated Press

Published: July 3, 2008

JERUSALEM - JERUSALEM - A Palestinian laborer driving a construction vehicle rammed into packed buses, tossed cars into the air and rolled over pedestrians in a deadly rampage Wednesday that killed three people and wounded dozens in Jerusalem.

The attacker's unusual weapon - a yellow Caterpillar front loader transformed into a deadly assault vehicle - threatened both Israelis' sense of security and Palestinians' fragile status in the city.

Hundreds of panicked people were sent running for cover before the attacker was shot dead by security forces. Three Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the onslaught, the first major attack in Jerusalem in four months.

However, Israeli police said the assailant, a 30-year-old Palestinian from Arab east Jerusalem, apparently acted alone. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man was working on a railway project in Jerusalem.

The attack was a departure from militants' previous methods, which have consisted mostly of suicide bombings and shooting sprees.

"To our regret the attackers do not cease coming up with new ways to strike at the heart of the Jewish people here in Jerusalem," said Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, whose daughter was on a bus rammed by the attacker. She was not injured.

Israel called the attack a "senseless act" and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to negotiate a peace accord with Israel, condemned it. The rampage turned a bustling commercial district into a scene of panic and confusion. Maria Stashevsky, a 19-year-old passenger on one of the rammed buses, said she didn't know what was going on until the collision.

"I saw people running our way and then the vehicle appeared and it hit us, turning us over," she said from her hospital bed where she was being treated for injuries to her head, legs and back. "People started landing on me and we had to break through the windows to escape."

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