At least ten people were killed and more than 40 wounded Thursday when a suspected Palestinian resistance bomber blew himself up on a crowded commuter bus in Jerusalem, Israeli rescue workers said. The rescue workers said that the number did not include the body of the suspected bomber who blew up a bus in the Kiryat Menahem neighborhood during morning rush hour.

Rescue workers are still working at the scene of the blast.

The bus, a number 20 travelling towards the centre of the city, was full at the time of the explosion.

The attack, in which more than 40 people were wounded, was the first since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called an early election for January 28 after his broad coalition government with the center-left Labor Party collapsed.

A charred torso of one of the victims hung out of the bus's window as rescue workers wheeled stretchers to the bus door and scoured the vehicle for more wounded. Most of the bus's windows were blown out from the force of the blast.

It was the first bombing by Palestinian resistance since Nov. 4, when a bomber killed two people in an attack at an shopping center in the Israeli town of Kfar Saba.

The attack was the first bombing to hit Jerusalem since June. At the time, Israel responded to back-to-back bombings by sending troops to reoccupy Palestinian-ruled cities in the West Bank.

Palestinian resistance groups have been carrying out a campaign of bombings and other attacks on Israeli targets during the two-year-old uprising against Israeli occupation.

PHOTO CAPTION

At least eight people were killed and more than 40 wounded Thursday, Nov 21, 2002, when a suspected Palestinian resistance bomber blew himself up on a crowded commuter bus in Jerusalem, Israeli rescue workers said.