"Device was at least 40 minutes on the bus" • Exclusive

Michael Igor, Dan bus driver on line 240 - the bomb exploded at Bat Yam, left after the end of the event to his Torah shiur in which he participates every day, and then spoke with B'Chadrei Charedim.

Conversation he recalls the sequence of events: "I was near the end of my workday, at the end of the route from Bnei Brak to Bat Yam. Woman who took the bus came up to me and said that there is a large black bag behind the rear door which does not belong to anyone, and one of the passengers saw the wires. It was just before the station, where I took off all the passengers, and then I went down too, when police was ordered in parallel. "

The explosion came very quickly."A few minutes after we got off the bus, there was a loud explosion, and I realized that it was an explosive device sitting in my bus."

Michael, a resident of Holon and driver with Dan for more than 35 years, is not too excited, and during the conversation he says he will come back tomorrow to work as usual.

• Will you the passengers and bags more from now?

"No. I think I'm sufficiently alert, and thank God, a miracle happened today."
The attack which occurred in line 124 Shaul Hamelech Street in Tel Aviv during "pillar of defense" of the IDF in the Gaza Strip a year ago, he remembers well. "It was located about 100 meters from the bus and injured 28 people there, including a serious and moderate injury".

After the explosion, Michael was questioned by security forces for a long time, and then returned to his routines, to his home in Holon and his daily shiur in the neighborhood synagogue.

"I spoke with my rabbi regarding this miracle, and he told me that I needed to say Hagomel. I will go up to the Torah in the synagogue this coming Shabbos to bless and thank God for the miracle," says Michael.

• You did something great, lives were saved by you.

The baker doesn’t vouch for his own dough."

• you are traveling by bus from Bnei Brak, passing by Ramat Gan and then Tel Aviv and then you come to Bat Yam , where it turns out that you have an explosive device on the bus, a few meters away from you. How does it feel?

"Bomb which blew up the bus was traveling with me at least 40 minutes," reveals Michael during the conversation. "At least, from Ramat Gan I travelled with the device, the briefcase was swinging every time the bus turned and goes with me until almost the end of the runway. With Hashem's help, shortly before the explosion one of the passengers found it and brought it to my attention."

"It could have ended in disaster, who held the bomb so that it should not explode? Only Divine Providence!" States Michael.

• Tomorrow?

"Work as usual" he concludes with a smile.

ISA is still investigating the identity of Operations

David Pappo, a passenger on line 240, told New 2-the moment when the driver reported the suspect bag. "One of the kids told me about a large bag left on the bus. Everyone told him it was nothing, but the driver stopped the bus, I went to see what it was, I tried to pick up the bag and saw that it was too heavy," said Pappo.

Despite concerns, the traveler decided to check the contents of the suspected bag. "I opened the zipper, saw inside a pressure cooker. I opened more and I saw inside the red wire which is connected with a white insulating tape, I told the driver to let everyone off the bus" described Pappo.

Michael also garnered praise from his managers, "he behaved as expected of him and literally saved lives," said CEO Dan Shmuel Raphael. "Management Dan is proud of you, Congratulations, you prevented major disaster," said Ethan Fixman, spokesman Dan to the driver, "He worked flawlessly, just by the necessary safety procedures."

Defense system didn’t receive notifications about the attack. Investigation was transferred from the Tel Aviv District Police to Security Agency, where among other things, extensive search conducted in various parts of the country, locating the baggage owner, which miraculously caused no casualties, and blocked several main routes.

Is this a planned attack by one of the known terrorist organizations or private enterprise - locally? This question has no clear answer yet, and things are checked by the ISA.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad movement did not take responsibility for the attack, but they welcomed and praised the perpetrator. Ahmad Al - Mudallaleh senior Islamic Jihad said that "the resistance will not sit lounge at Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people's rights." He added that the Palestinians are on the verge of a new explosion against Israel. Hamas official Mushir al-Masri , said that the attack demonstrates the capabilities of the resistance to reach deeper into Israel . He said the attack was a message to Israel that the opposition will not stop despite all that was done against it.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!