DATE=03/31/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL/BOMBING (S)

NUMBER=2-288185

BYLINE=ROSS DUNN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A least 14 people are reported killed and dozens more injured, after a suspected Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives in the northern Israel city of Haifa. Ross Dunn in Jerusalem has more on the story.

TEXT: The blast occurred in a restaurant, next to a gas station, toward the end of lunch hour. Ambulances rushed to the scene, and first-aid workers have been evacuating the injured to nearby hospitals.

Police closed off the area, and sent a helicopter into the sky above Haifa to try to track down those suspected of transporting the bomber to the restaurant.

Sections of a main road between Haifa and Tel Aviv were closed to traffic, after warnings of more possible terror attacks.

The explosion comes just one day after another Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a Tel Aviv café, killing himself and injuring scores of others. (Signed)

NEB/RD/ALW/TW