Haile Abraha Hawki

June 11, 2003 - Haile Abraha Hawki, 56, of Eritrea was one of 17 people killed in a suicide bombing on bus No. 14A on Jaffa Road in the center of Jerusalem.

At around 17:30, the bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, boarded Egged bus No. 14A at the Mahane Yehuda market, and a short while later, as the bus drove down Jaffa Road near the Davidka Square, detonated his bomb, wrecking the bus and killing 16 of its passengers. Over 100 people were wounded, including dozens of passersby. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Haile Abraha Hawki, from Eritrea, who had been working in Israel for six years, lived in a small apartment at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. He had been working as a cleaning worker at the Ner Shmuel Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood, and a recent pay slip found on the scene of the explosion ultimately led to his identification.

Positive identification of Hawki's remains was completed by DNA comparison with hairs on his razor on June 24. His body was flown home to Eritrea for burial. Haile Abraha Hawki is survived by his wife and three children.