At least seven passengers reportedly were killed in an explosion on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in what is being described as a terrorist attack.
Israeli and Bulgarian outlets reported that as many as seven people were killed in the explosion Wednesday afternoon at Sarafovo Airport in Burgas, a city on the Black Sea Coast popular with Israeli tourists. At least 27 passengers have been rushed to the hospital, reported the Bulgarian news agency Novinite.com. The explosion hit one of three tour buses carrying Israelis, Israel's Channel 1 reported. Some 40 people are reported to have been on the bus.
The explosion occurred while the bus was still in the terminal. Some news reports said a suicide bomber boarded the bus as it was taking the Israeli tourists to the terminal. Others quoted Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov as saying that explosives were in the luggage area of the bus.
The explosion occurred on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that left 85 people dead.
Israeli search and rescue teams have been dispatched to Burgas, including a delegation from ZAKA, the Israeli rescue and recovery service.
Novinite.com reported that Bulgarian authorities foiled a bomb attack in January on a charter bus for Israeli tourists heading from the Turkish border to a Bulgarian ski resort. A bomb was found on the bus.
Israel has suspended all flights bound for Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Azerbaijan and flights headed from Bulgaria to Israel have been delayed, according to Ynet.

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