Baruch Gruani

Jun 18, 2002 - Baruch Gruani, 60, of Jerusalem, was one of 19 people killed in a suicide bombing at the Patt junction in Egged bus no. 32A traveling from Gilo to the center of Jerusalem.

The terrorist boarded the bus at 7:50 A.M. at the stop in Beit Safafa, an Arab neighborhood opposite Gilo, and almost immediately detonated the large bomb which he carried in a bag stuffed with ball bearings. The blast destroyed the front half of the bus, packed with people on their way to work and schoolchildren. Of the 19 victims, 17 were residents of the Gilo neighborhood; 74 people were injured.

Baruch Gruani, a retired employee of Israel Military Industries, was born in Jerusalem, and liked to describe his life in the divided city during his youth. His son, Doron, described his father as "a religious man, careful to pray and study Torah - a modest, quiet, humble man, who helped everyone who needed it." Yesterday, despite the warnings that a suicide bomber had entered the city, he boarded the bus to visit a friend downtown.

Baruch Gruani was buried in Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and their four children, his mother, and eight brothers and sisters.