3 die as Palestinian goes on the rampage

[nandagopal]

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian driving a front-loader vehicle went on a deadly rampage on a busy Jerusalem street on Wednesday, ploughing into a string of cars, buses and pedestrians, killing at least three people and wounding 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

The violence, the first major attack in Jerusalem since March, wreaked havoc and left a large swathe of damage on Jaffa Road, a main thoroughfare in downtown Jerusalem. Traffic was halted, and hundreds of people fled in panic as medics treated the wounded.

Three Palestinian militant groups took responsibility for the attack, but the claims could not be independently verified and Israeli police referred to the attacker as a "terrorist" acting on his own. Israeli police said the man was a bulldozer operator who worked in the area for a local construction firm.

The attack took place in front of a building housing media outlets. BBC footage captured the front-loader, crushing a vehicle and an off-duty soldier shooting the perpetrator several times at point-blank range. A half-dozen cars were flattened and others were overturned by the Caterpillar vehicle.