'I was looking for my daughter, her whole body was burned'
Racheli Dadon was with her 15-year-old daughter Eden on the bus when it became engulfed in flames, while the bus driver did all he could to save the passengers and says no one arouse his suspicion.
Racheli Dadon was desperately looking for her daughter, 15-year-old Eden, after the bombing on bus number 12 in Jerusalem on Monday, "when I found her, I saw that he entire body was burned."
Police investigation found that an explosive device blew up at the back of the bus. Security forces are investigating the possibility that one of the wounded is a suicide bomber.
From her bed at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, Racheli recounted in tears the terrifying experience.
"My daughter and I got on the number 12 bus, and my daughter went to the back to find us seats while I paid the bus driver. We hadn't even sat down when all of a sudden we heard a huge explosion, and glass began to fall on us. Everything was dark and full of smoke," she recalled.
"I collapsed. Her whole face was black and burned. It was impossible to see her," Dandon continued. "Paramedics had to carry my daughter out of the bus because she couldn't move under her own power."
After breaking down in tears, she added "I've always watched these things happen from the outside, but when it happens to you… I can't believe that I'm here and that my daughter isn't. She'll be 16 in a month, and now she's sedated and on a ventilator. I'm praying that she'll get out of this ok."
Racheli also requested that the Israeli public pray for her daughter's recovery.
She recalls other vicitims of the attack, saying, "someone had to have a limb amputated - she was next to my daughter. She wasn't able to get out of the bus, so the first responders took her out."
Akiva Betzalel, 13, was lightly wounded in the bombing. His father, Asher, said his son's condition is good. "He's frightened, and has some scratches, but he's awake and remembers the explosion," he said.
"(Akiva) went on the bus and sat at the front, there was a massive explosion in the back. People were screaming, there were wounded and blood, his cell phone flew out of his hand," Asher said.
"I was at home and heard about the explosion, and knew my son was on the bus. A paramedic called me and told me my son was on his way to the hospital and his condition was good," he recounted.
'No one aroused my suspicions'
Bus driver, Moshe Levi, said none of his passengers had aroused his suspicions. If I would have suspected someone, I would have acted before anything happened," he said.
"I got on the bus and did a security check twice. I made sure that everything was OK. People got on the bus – everyone paid. The whole trip was OK. I got to Talpiot and got stopped on Baram Road because of a traffic jam. I then heard an explosion at the back part of the bus, opened the doors, and told everyone to get out of the bus. I told people in private cars to call for help," he recounted.
Omri Efriam, Yael Freidson, and Roi Yanovsky contributed to this report.
