3 IDF soldiers seriously hurt in northern Israel car accident

At least 11 people were injured, including an IDF officer and two soldiers, in a car accident in northern Israel Sunday.

Two of the soldiers were injured seriously and one was critically hurt in a collision between a military vehicle and a private car in the Galilee.

Paramedics airlifted the soldier in critical condition to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The others, including a seriously wounded a soldier in her twenties, were evacuated to Ziv Medical Center in Safed. The families have been notified, the army said in a statement.

According to the Israel Hayom daily, their lives were not in danger.

A paramedic at the scene said it was a head-on collision between the two vehicles. He said one of the injured soldiers, a male about 20-years-old, was driving the private vehicle, and apparently the injured female soldier was sitting in the passenger seat at the time of the accident. The third soldier had to be removed from the back seat of the vehicle.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the other injured Israelis.

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In 2016, out of a total of 41 soldiers who died during their service, seven troops were killed in off-duty car accidents.

Between 2005 and 2011, that number hovered around 15, with a peak of 24 and a low of 11. For the past three years, the number has stayed between seven and eight, according to army figures.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.