A Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into an Israeli commuter bus, cars and pedestrians on one of Jerusalem's busiest streets on Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding dozens, emergency services said. [Xinhua]

An Israeli baby is evacuated from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem July 2, 2008. A Palestinian construction worker rammed an earthmoving vehicle into buses and cars on one of west Jerusalem's busiest streets on Wednesday, killing three Israelis and wounding more than 40 before he was shot dead. [Agencies]

The body of Hosam Dwayyat lies in the cab of a front end loader at the scene of an attack in Jerusalem July 2, 2008. Dwayyat, a Palestinian construction worker from Arab East Jerusalem, rammed the earthmoving vehicle into buses and cars on one of west Jerusalem's busiest streets on Wednesday, killing three Israelis and wounding more than 40 before he was shot dead. [Agencies]

Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem July 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A bulldozer went on a deadly rampage in Jerusalem early Wednesday afternoon, ramming into several cars, overturning a crowded bus, killing at least three people and injuring dozens.

The bulldozer, which hit several vehicles as well as pedestrians along its way, slammed into and knocked over the bus with 35 people on board near the old Central Bus Station in the northwestern part of downtown Jerusalem, in what the police said was definitely a terror attack.

Three women were killed and over 30 injured in the attacks, according to local dailies The Jerusalem Post and Yedioth Ahronoth. Another newspaper Ha'aretz put the death toll at four. One of the dead was a woman driving a Toyota when her car was smashed by the bulldozer.

The bulldozer driver, identified as a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem with an Israeli identification card, was shot dead by an elite policeman who climbed up the moving construction vehicle and opened fire, said the police, which rushed to the scene along with the Maged David Adom (MDA) rescue services.

Israeli sources said at least 46 were admitted to hospitals, among whom about a dozen were either seriously or moderately wounded.

Witnesses said the driver struggled briefly with two policemen before being killed. Another elite policemen was lightly wounded, apparently by gunfire, indicating that the driver was armed.

BEEF UP SECURITY

A state of emergency was declared in Jerusalem following the violence, which marked the first terror attack in Jerusalem since a gunman killed eight students in a religious school in March.

The motive of the latest attacks is still unknown, and there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Jerusalem Post identified the driver as Jabr Duwait, a 32-year-old father of two, who the police said had a criminal record. The bulldozer was apparently being used for construction work on the Jerusalem light rail project.

"My son never spoke of plans to carry out such an attack. If he had, I would have tried to prevent it," Duwait's father, Tayseer, told The Media Line News Agency, as police officers were about to question him.

Multiple Palestinian sources suggested that the attack was an independent act carried out by the driver alone.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and is currently preserving a shaky ceasefire with Israel, said the group did not know who was behind the attack, while terming it as "a natural reaction to Israel's aggression."

The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) issued a statement praising the attack, saying it was a clear message to Israel that "it should expect more attacks for as long as it continues its crimes against the Palestinian people and the aggression against our people, our land and our places."

Following the attack, Israeli police said they would increase deployment across the Jewish state, focusing on crowded places, checkpoints and crossings.

LIKE A NIGHTMARE

The attack set off a panic in downtown Jerusalem. Sirens were heard across the downtown when the attacks happened, and dozens ofpeople were seen running through the streets to flee the spot.

A preliminary investigation showed that the bulldozer left a nearby construction site and drove against the direction of traffic on Jaffa Street when it started the rampage, during which a second bus, with 15 people on board, was also hit.

A witness named Zion Shetreet told local daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the "tractor turned into the road very suddenly and started trampling over the cars standing in the stoplight," saying that "this is something you only see in the movies. It was awful."

Asaf Nadav, the driver of the overturned bus and who was lightly injured, recalled that "I was in a traffic jam on Jaffa Street and I suddenly saw hoards of people running toward the bus and then continuing toward the market (nearby)."

"Then I saw the bulldozer heading in my direction, it gave me a little nudge. I opened the window to yell at the driver, but then he turned the bulldozer in its place, lifted the bus up and flipped it over. He slammed into the bus a few more times then continued on his way," he said.

Chen Shimon, a 19-year-old soldier, said the whole scene was a nightmare. "I just got off the bus and I saw the tractor driving and knocking everything down in his path," she said. "Everything he saw he rammed."

Editor: Yan