St-Sgt Eliyahu Laham

March 5, 2003 - St.-Sgt. Eliyahu Laham, 22, of Haifa, was one of 17 people killed in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus on Moriah Boulevard in the Carmel section of Haifa.

The bus was traveling on the city's main Moriah Boulevard near the Carmel Center, on the way to Haifa University, when the blast turned the bus into a charred wreck and scattered bodies along the road. The suicide bomber, who had boarded the bus, had the bomb strapped to his body, laden with metal shrapnel in order to maximize the number of injuries. A total of 17 people were killed and 53 injured.

Eliyahu (Eli) Laham, the eldest in his family, served in the Military Police in Megiddo. He was on his way to visit his grandfather in the Carmel Hospital when he was killed.

Eli's uncle, Eli Dinur, related that he was to have completed his army service in a month and a half. "He was the fighter in the family," he said. Eliayhu recently told his father that he was planning to travel to Thailand after the army, and his father cautioned him of terror warnings there. Eli replied, "I could also died near home."

St.-Sgt. Eliyahu Laham was buried in the military cemetery in Haifa. He is survived by his parents, a brother and sister.