MORE ON THE BOMBINGS IN BEERSHEBA

Instinct Made Israeli Driver Race to Save Passengers
Israeli driver Yaakov Cohen raced against time after he saw the bus ahead of his explode in a ball of flame and had a premonition his own vehicle would soon be next. "I drove about 10 meters and then opened the doors....I believe that between 10 to 15 people got off my bus. Suddenly I heard a huge explosion. I can't explain it but it was almost as if I knew it was going to happen," he said. There were still 20 to 30 people waiting to leave the bus when the bomb went off. Emergency workers said the buses had been packed with passengers on their way home from Beersheba's open-air market. (Reuters)

See also "I Gave Up My Seat and Lived"
Nissim Vaknin, 65, described how he escaped death: "I got on the bus near the post office and found one seat remaining. At the next stop, a woman asked if she could sit down. I gave my seat to her. I moved back toward the center of the bus. Around 300 meters later, the bus exploded....When I saw his body in pieces, I realized I had sat next to the bomber....Now I'm in terrible anguish. My life was spared because I gave up my seat for a woman who died." (Guardian-UK)

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Miriam Mushkan, 40, came to Beersheba from her kibbutz along the Gaza border to shop and get away from the Kassam rocket threats. Suddenly the no. 7 bus behind her exploded. She gunned her car ahead and bus no. 12 blew up, splattering her windshield with blood, flesh, and body parts. (Jerusalem Post)