Maharatu Tagana

Mar 5, 2002 - Maharatu Tagana, 85, of Upper Nazareth was killed when a suicide bomber exploded in an Egged No. 823 bus as it entered the Afula central bus station.

The bus was en route from Nazareth to Tel-Aviv. The bus driver related that the terrorist, who was clean-shaven and wearing a padded jacket, did not arouse any suspicion until he declined to accept change from a NIS 50 bill. The driver kept an eye on him as they proceeded towards Afula. At one of the stops before Afula, some 30 students, mainly women, disembarked, and only 10 passengers remained. "I knew there were police at the Afula station," said the driver, "and I was ready to call them and tell the passengers to get off the bus quickly when the terrorist exploded his bomb.

Maharatu Tagana had taken the bus to Afula to see his wife Lignish, who was there for medical treatment, and was killed in the explosion.

Tagana, who had five sons and seven daughters, immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 1994, after a difficult journey through the mountains and forests of Sudan. "Dad was a special person, whom everyone knew, and everyone respected," said his son Michael. "He used to help everyone, and attended every funeral held in the Ethiopian community, even if he didn't personally know the person who died."

Maharatu Tagana will be buried in Upper Nazareth. He is survived by his wife and 12 children - the youngest age 15.