Jerusalem: At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bombing of a passenger bus in Central Jerusalem on August 19, in an attack which prompted Israel to freeze peace moves with the Palestinians.

The hardline Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility for the massive blast aboard the Number two bus.

The bus exploded as it was winding its way through an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in Central Jerusalem that also takes in the famed Western Wall.

Avi Zohar, director general of the Magen David Adom rescue service told reporters that 20 people were killed and 105 injured, as he stood close to the scene of the blast where bodies were lined up on a road close to the twisted wreckage of the bus.

Fourteen people were seriously injured. Hospital sources said that many of the victims were young children.

Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said many of the victims had been hit as they returned from praying at the nearby Western Wall when the blast went off shortly after 11.30 pm (IST).

Police were also investigating reports the bomber may have been disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

Agencies