One person was killed and at least 16 others hurt when a truck plowed down a busy street in Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, crashing into a bus, several cars, a motorcycle and a number of pedestrians, in what security forces believe was a terrorist attack.

The incident occurred at about 9:35 A.M. on Barlev Street, at the southern entrance to Tel Aviv. It comes amid heightened tensions as Palestinians mark Nakba Day, an annual day of Palestinian protest marking the creation of the State of Israel.

Open gallery view Paramedics treat victims at scene of suspected terror attack, on Sunday May 15, 2011. Inset: the truck driver. Credit: Dan Aviv



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The driver, a 22-year-old resident of Kafr Qasem, sped off immediately, after what witnesses described as a "serious accident" spanning "hundreds of meters". He was arrested quickly after the incident, and has denied any deliberate attempt to cause an accident.

A resident of the Israeli Arab town of Arara, who was driving near the scene of the incident, was also arrested for suspected involvement.

"There is no way the driver here accidently lost control," said a Magen David Adom paramedic at the scene. "There are no accidents like this."

The man killed in the incident was Aviv Morag, a 29-year-old man from Givatayim.

Israel has in recent years suffered a spate of attacks using large vehicles. In 2008, Jerusalem was hit by two such attacks within three weeks, leaving three people dead and dozens wounded. In 2010, a Palestinian tractor driver slammed his vehicle into two Israeli cars near an outpost in the northern West Bank, lightly wounding three people.