JERUSALEM: A bomb blast ripped through a bus in Jerusalem on Monday and sparked a fire, wounding at least 16 people, Israeli police said, in an apparent escalation in a wave of violence.

Details of the incident were still emerging, but police said a bomb had exploded on one bus in a relatively isolated area of Jerusalem, sparking a fire that spread to another one as well as a car.

“A professional examination of police sappers has proven that a bomb exploded on the back part of the bus, resulting in the wounding of passengers and the burning of the bus,” a police statement. “In addition, another bus and car were damaged.”

An AFP journalist at the scene said one bus was completely burnt out while another was partially burned, with a large contingent of firefighters battling to extinguish the blaze.

Of the 16 people injured, two were hurt seriously, medics said.

Authorities initially said most of them were passengers on the second bus, though conflicting information later emerged.

The blast struck in an area of the city without any major buildings or homes and which is not heavily used by pedestrians.

The location was close to the so-called Green Line dividing mainly Jewish west Jerusalem from predominately Palestinian east Jerusalem.