Gal Malka, who also survived the explosion, told Israeli Army Radio: “We sat down and within a few seconds we heard a huge boom and we ran away. We managed to escape through a hole on the bus. We saw bodies and many people injured. The whole bus went up in flames.”
Dimitar Nikolov, the mayor of Burgas told the bTV television channel that the attack was caused by “a very strong explosive that was deliberately placed or brought into the baggage compartment of the bus”.
The US condemned the attack, with President Barack Obama stating his “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims.
Israelis have been targeted in attacks outside their country, notably in Delhi, India and Bangkok, Thailand, in February.
Israel suspects Iran of being behind these attacks, which have further added to tensions between the two countries already exacerbated by Israeli warnings against Iran’s alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme.
The deadly explosion comes after a foiled bomb attack in January targeting a bus chartered to take Israeli tourists from the Turkish border to a Bulgarian ski resort earlier this year.
Following an Israeli request, Bulgarian troops were deployed in several ski resorts frequented by Israeli tourists after the bomb was found.
The foiled attack was thought to be linked to Hizbollah, the Lebanon based Shia Islamist terror group that receives financial and political support from Iran and Syria.
Israeli officials have pointed to the timing of the Bulgarian attack on the anniversary of the 18 July 1994 bombing of the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) building in Buenos Aires.
Iran was blamed for that attack and Argentina has issued arrest warrants for several Iranian nationals including General Ahmad Vahidi, the country’s defence minister and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
Source: The Telegraph
popular Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach and warned of retaliatory measures targeting Iran.