PRELIMINARY REPORT: 23:09 IL: (MULTIPLE UPDATES BELOW) A vehicle driven by terrorists slammed into a crowd of people near Kikar Tzahal in downtown Yerushalayim a short time ago. There are at least 10 people wounded, some listed in serious condition.

Ambulances are responding to the scene along with police and other emergency agencies. Area hospitals are moving to emergency status, preparing to begin treating the wounded. 

UPDATE 23:23 IL: It appears that a lone terrorist driving a passenger vehicle, not a tractor, slammed into a crowd of Jerusalemites on Monday night. The number of wounded is now being reported at 15. Two of the victims are reported in serious condition. Ambulances are still operating on the scene, providing initial care as they prepare to move the wounded to area trauma centers and emergency rooms.

Preliminary reports from police, yet unconfirmed, the terrorist who was shot and killed by a passerby was a Jerusalem resident and had a blue Israeli identity card.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION NUMBERS:

Bikur Cholim Hospital: 12-55-123
Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital: 12-155-121
Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital: 12-55-122
Shaare Zedek Medical Center: 12-55-125

UPDATE 23:27 IL: The wounded in the Monday night terror attack have been transported from the scene of the Monday night terror attack, at Kikar Tzahal in the downtown area of Yerushalayim.

A private vehicle, apparently a black BMW, driven by a lone terrorist slammed into a group of people at about 10:55PM Jerusalem time. The victims appear to be relatively young, in their 20s. One of the group was armed and it was he who eliminated the terrorist, preventing him from moving the vehicle and striking others.

Magen David Adom reports one person in serious condition, one moderate and a number of lightly injured victims were transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. Conflicting reports state that a total of 12 victims were transported from the scene by ambulance. There appears to be a total of two victims in serious condition.

There were two bulldozer terror attacks in recent months, one on July 2nd which claimed three lives and the second on July 22nd, which left one person seriously injured and close to 30 others less seriously injured.

Police are signaling that in this case, as in the earlier vehicular terror attacks, the driver was a resident of the eastern capital and did have an Israeli identity card. In addition, the March 6th shooting attack in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, which claimed the lives of 8 talmidim, was also perpetrated by a Jerusalem Arab resident.

The information is preliminary and while it appears reliable at this time, final confirmation may result in a change in some of the facts being reported.

UPDATE 23:45 IL: It appears that most of the wounded in the Monday night vehicular terror attack in downtown Yerushalayim are IDF soldiers.

A lone terrorist, reportedly an eastern Jerusalem resident with an Israeli ID card, drove a BMW into the crowd at Kikar Tzahal. One of the people in the area with a weapon, perhaps a soldier, fired at the terrorist, eliminating him.

Police and Magen David Adom ambulances responded to the downtown Yerushalayim vehicular terror attack very quickly. The initial calls for assistance reach emergency dispatchers shortly before 11:00PM Monday night Jerusalem time.

Police using bomb-sniffing dogs are still patrolling the attack scene, with special attention being placed on the vehicle driven by the terrorist.

The number of wounded in the attack is 18 according to paramedic Shlomo Petrover, the deputy chief of MDA Yerushalayim. He reports that two victims are reported in serious condition, four moderate and 13 light. He does not have a report on the ‘walking wounded’ who usually find their way to emergency rooms, or just how many victims are being treated for hysteria.

A police chopper continues to circle overhead and police troops are busy trying to control an angry crowd. It appears a number of frum persons in the area seem to be chasing Arabs to happen to pass the area after the attack.

UPDATE 23:49 IL: According to preliminary identification obtained by police, the terrorist responsible for tonight’s vehicular attack in Yerushalayim is from Jabel Mukaber, the same area of Yerushalayim as the Merkaz HaRav terrorist lived.

Efforts to raze the home of that terrorist, as a punitive action and a deterrence against future attacks, have been in vain to date as the terrorist’s family uses the Israeli judicial system to save his home.

The latest report received from MDA states a total of 19 victims in the attack, with 5 listed as moderate, moderate-to-serious and serious, and the remainder light. The injured were transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital, Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Bikur Cholim Hospital.

Tonight’s attack come less than four hours after President Shimon Peres selected Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to assemble the new government coalition, perhaps the first challenge for the transition government of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

UPDATE 00:00 IL: It is being confirmed that the vehicular terrorist on Monday night slammed his BMW sedan into a group of soldiers, from the Artillery Corps. The soldiers were on a “Slichos Tour” of the area, as is common in Yerushalayim in Elul. The unit’s deputy company commander shot and killed the terrorist.

The 17 wounded soldiers are now being reported in moderate and light condition Baruch Hashem.  All the wounded were transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky has condemned the attack. He also ordered opening the city’s social worker hotline phone to assist the families of the victims. The numbers are: 02-531-4600/1/2/3/4.

More to follow as the situation unfolds, and the YWN Israel Bureau gathers the latest in this breaking story.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)