WarSclerotic

The bombing in Bulgaria on Wednesday was committed by a suicide bomber and not by a charge planted in the bus beforehand as believed at first, a senior official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry told Haaretz on Thursday.

Eight people were killed in the bombing, six of them Israeli tourists, one of them the Bulgarian bus driver, with authorities estimating that the eighth may be the terrorist who perpetrated the attack. An additional 32 Israelis were wounded in the attack.

The Bulgarian police said that footage from airport security cameras captured the suspect roaming the airport for at least one hour, the Bulgarian news agency Novinite reported. According to the report he was a long-haired Caucasian in sportswear.

The body suspected as belonging to the terrorist had a U.S. passport issued in Michigan – apparently fake.

During the night, two Israeli aircrafts carrying medical staff, a casualty identification team, a police forensic team, as well as, Israeli diplomats to assist in the return of Israelis who lost their identification in the attack.

Gideon Meir, deputy director of the Israeli foreign ministry, said that the governments of Bulgaria and Israel are closely cooperating to deal with the aftermath of the attack. Israel is involved in both the treatment of the wounded and in the investigation of the attack.

According to Meir, Bulgaria had agreed to send a plane from Burgas to Israel to aid in the return of Israelis stranded there.

During the night, all 32 of the Israeli wounded were checked by Israeli medical staff. Israeli embassy workers in Bulgaria contacted all Israelis that were on the flight and fell victim to the attack.

A large number of passengers are still in the airport, refusing to go to the hotel fearing an additional attack. They were provided water and blankets by the Israeli embassy.

Overnight, a team of 8 Israeli forensic experts was dispatched to Bulgaria, given the task of identifying the victims, and preparing the bodies for their return to Israel. At the head of the team is Uri Argaman, the head of the police’s forensic identification unit.

The delegation will arrive along with half a ton of police equipment, with police officials intending to set up a mobile lab, where all of the testing will take place.