Blast hits Israelis in Bulgaria

A picture shows smoke rising over Bourgas airport yesterday following the blast. Photo: AFP

At least six people were killed and many more wounded yesterday in an attack on a bus packed with Israelis at a Black Sea airport in Bulgaria that the government in Israel blamed on arch foe Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "all signs point to Iran" after an official in Jerusalem said the bus carrying Israeli citizens at the Burgas airport was shot at and an explosive device thrown.
"Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror," Netanyahu said. "In the past few months we have seen attempts by Iran to harm Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other places."
The attack, the first on Bulgarian soil against Israelis, also drew strong condemnation from the Israel's staunchest ally the United States and France.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the United States "condemns such attacks on innocent people, especially children, in the strongest possible terms."
The attack came on the 18th anniversary of an attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people and wounded 300.
Bulgaria's bNT television and the BGNES news agency's correspondent at the airport cited unnamed official sources as saying the number of dead was seven.
The blast occurred around 1400 GMT on the bus carrying Israelis who had flown in to Burgas, the second largest city on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, setting off a fire that spread to another two buses, the ministry said.
Pictures showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the airport, which the ministry said had been closed after the incident. Television showed ambulances rushing people to hospital and women crying.
Between 40 and 50 passengers had got on to the bus at a parking lot outside the arrivals hall at the airport when the blast occurred, state-owned BNR radio said.
Earlier, The US and Britain said in joint statement that the countries will not tolerate Iranian attempts to block the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his counterpart Philip Hammond spoke about Iran's "destabilizing behavior" during a bilateral meeting, Panetta told reporters at a joint news conference.
"The Iranians need to understand that the United States and the international community are going to hold them directly responsible for any disruption of shipping in that region ," the Pentagon chief said. "And the United States is fully prepared for all contingencies here."