Motorcycle explodes in Kiryat Ata

Driver killed in apparent crime-related blast, several treated for shock.

kiryat ata motorcycle bombing 311 (photo credit: Channel 10 screenshot)
kiryat ata motorcycle bombing 311
(photo credit: Channel 10 screenshot)
A motorcyclist was killed when his vehicle exploded in the center of Kiryat Ata, north of Haifa on Thursday night. The motorcycle was overtaking a bus on the town's main road when the explosion occurred, police said.
"At this stage, it appears to be criminal-related," a police spokesman said.
The man killed in the explosion was a Kiryat Ata resident in his twenties, who has a criminal record, police said. Police assessed the motorcyclist was targeted by a rival crime gang.
Several bus passengers were treated on the scene for shock.
Senior Northern district police brass and a bomb squad attended the scene of the blast.
Eye witnesses described hearing a very loud explosion, and seeing the motorcycle go up in flames.
Magen David Adom ambulances and emergency vehicles flooded the scene in the minutes after the blast.