ON THIS DAY IN 1989, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad murdered 16 bus passengers near Jerusalem.  The no.405 bus was travelling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and was packed with commuters.  Abed al-Hadi Ghaneim had boarded the bus and sat near the driver.  As the bus travelled alongside a ravine near the town of Kiryat Ye'arim, Ghaneim left his seat and seized the steering wheel from the driver.  He forced the bus off the road and sent it hurtling down into the ravine.

Some of those who survived the initial crash were trapped inside the wreckage and burned to death after the bus caught fire.  16 passengers were killed, including two Canadians and a US national, and a further 27 were injured.  Although the incident is cited as being the first Palestinian suicide attack, the attacker actually survived and was treated for his injuries in an Israeli hospital.  The 25-year-old from Gaza was later given 16 life sentences, but was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas to obtain the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The remains of the no.405 bus

At the time this was the deadliest terrorist attack on Israel in eleven years.