At least 8 Palestinian children killed

16 Feb 2012, 9:11 pm   -   Source: AAP
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An Israeli truck has hit a Palestinian school bus on a road in the West Bank, killing at least eight children.

At least eight Palestinian children were killed on Thursday when an Israeli truck hit a Palestinian school bus on a road in the West Bank, Israeli police said.

A spokesman for Israel's emergency services put the injury toll at up to 40, and said the wounded had been taken to hospitals in both Israel and the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"There are between eight and 10 Palestinian children dead, aged between 10 and 16, and more than 30 injured who were taken to various hospitals in Ramallah and Mt Scopus," police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.

Family members of some of the injured children told AFP the bus passengers were from a Palestinian school in Anata in east Jerusalem and were going on an outing to Ramallah.

They also said the truck driver, who was injured, is a Palestinian from the eastern sector of the city.

The accident occurred at busy road junction just north of Jerusalem, when an Israeli truck ploughed into a Palestinian school bus.

Police said the bus flipped over on impact and burst into flames, with all the dead and most of the injured bus passengers.

"A horrific traffic accident took place north of Jerusalem. Apparently there was a crash between and Israeli lorry and a Palestinian bus which had children on it. As a result, the bus flipped over and burst into flames," an earlier police statement said.

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