Approaching the traffic lights in Msida, the green glow suddenly changed to amber, signalling drivers to ease to a halt on an ordinary morning last Monday.

“I’m already late, I’m going to keep going,” James* thought to himself, driving through the still-yellow lights. Seconds later, a car which would have been right beside his burst into flames in the second bombing this year in as many months.

“I hate waiting at traffic lights. It’s a good thing I didn’t this time; otherwise I would have been blown up along with that man,” James, an eyewitness to Monday’s car bombing told The Sunday Times of Malta.

His Avis van was just a few metres behind the Renault Mégane of 40-year-old Romeo Bone on Monday morning as he approached the traffic lights near the General Workers’ Union monument.

READ: Car bomb victim may have been followed

Mr Bone lost both his legs after the explosive device beneath his car detonated at 10.30am while he was waiting for the light to turn back to green.

The explosion was so powerful it stripped away a patch of tarmac beneath Mr Bone’s car.

James said he had just turned the corner a few metres after the lights, turning back towards Junior College, when he heard the bomb go off.

“It was a weird sound, first like something winding up or charging, a sort of humming sound for a second and then the blast. It was loud, louder than anything I had ever heard before,” he said.

As has been the case in other recent bomb explosions, the explosive device was filled with ball bearings, which are meant to shoot out with the force of the blast, ripping through not only the intended target but also anything else nearby.

James said that his work van had been sprayed with shrapnel, which had torn through the vehicle, puncturing both of his rear tyres.

“The car is covered in about a dozen small bullet holes. The bits went in and out through the other end of the van. If I had been near him, it would have been all over me,” James said.

The inside of the eyewitness’s van, which was peppered with shrapnel. Photo: Matthew MirabelliThe inside of the eyewitness’s van, which was peppered with shrapnel. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

After the blast, he was among the very first people on the scene. James recounted how he ran into the Avis garage, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and went straight to Mr Bone’s car.

“The fire wasn’t that big at first. I tried to put it out, but the police officer who had arrived there ushered me away.

“The guy in the car wasn’t inside. At first I thought he had been blown through the windscreen, but then I saw he had fallen out. He was lying in the street with no legs,” James said.

Moments later, more police arrived on the scene, by which time the fire had spread throughout the rest of the car, engulfing it in flames.

*James is not the eyewitness’s real name. He asked not to have his identity revealed, as he fears retribution from the violent criminals behind Monday’s car bomb. If you have information about the incident and wish to share it confidentially, email ivan.martin@timesofmalta.com

A look back at the recent bombings…

January 16, 2016

Martin Cachia, 56, was  killed by a car bomb while driving a red Alfa Romeo along the Marsascala bypass.

He owned a trawler, Liberty V, and though listed as a fisherman, he was not known to be one within industry circles. Mr Cachia’s other job was that of a monti hawker.

In 2013, Mr Cachia, as registered owner of the boat, and four Egyptian crew members including the captain, were charged with trying to smuggle 20 irregular migrants into Malta after it was intercepted at sea.

The Egyptians pleaded guilty and were jailed. Mr Cachia was still in court over the matter and until a day before he died was insisting he had no knowledge of the illegal operation and was willing to disclose who he believed was the mastermind.

Mr Cachia in the past faced charges of allegedly selling counterfeit DVD items from a stall in Valletta. In one of the cases, going back more than 10 years, he was co-charged with his then 17-year-old son.

Mr Cachia also had a pending drug-related case when he died.

September 26, 2016

Josef Cassar, 35, lost both legs after a bomb placed under the driver’s seat of his van exploded as he drove on Aldo Moro Road in Marsa at 6.15pm.

The bomb was packed with screws and ball bearings to inflict maximum damage and is believed to have been detonated by a mobile phone.

Mr Cassar was the sole director of S&T Services Ltd, a haulage company based in Marsa, and was not a familiar name to the police.

According to police sources, the victim claimed to have no idea who could have been behind the incident.

November 1, 2016

John Camilleri, 67, a retail businessman, was killed in one of the most powerful car bomb explosions ever encountered by the police.

The blast took place in a residential area at Triq Paderborn in Buġibba, just metres away from a mini market at 7am.

The bomb was likely to have been hidden under the driver’s seat of his Mitsubishi Pajero.

Mr Camilleri, who was known as Giovann, was from Naxxar and operated in the bathrooms and tiles market, but he also had a number of companies that dealt in property.

Dove Trading Ltd had €800,000 worth of property for resale and cash reserves of €2.3 million. It also owned rental property worth €137,000. The company made a profit of €2.4 million in 2015.

The company was, in turn, the sole shareholder of Kings Properties, and Mr Camilleri also owned a 55 per cent stake in Laguna Cruises.

Mr Camilleri was involved in a legal dispute with the heirs of his brother Edgar over the dissolution of the shareholding in Soap & Sponge Ltd, a bathroom supplier.

Mr Camilleri’s other interest was in Solair Developments, the firm which runs the Solair Holiday Complex in St Paul’s Bay, not far from where the car bomb exploded.

January 29, 2017

Victor Calleja, a 65-year-old man from Ħamrun, became the first person to die from a car bomb this year.

The explosion happened on Triq Ħal Qormi, close to the Maltapost headquarters, at around 8.10am. Mr Calleja was certified to have died on the scene.

Also known as Ic-Chippy, Mr Calleja was in an Opel Astra that was being driven in the direction of Qormi.

The bomb is believed to have been planted inside the car and was detonated electronically.

Mr Calleja had a history with the police, having been implicated in the December 1998 hold-up of a Group 4 security van, from which some Lm50,000 in cash was stolen.

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