Truck driver convicted of negligent homicide

A truck driver who was involved in a fatal accident that killed five family members in the south of Israel three years ago was convicted Sunday of five cases of negligent homicide.

The Beersheba Traffic Court found Mohammed bin Said al Gabor fully responsible for the deaths of Ruti Dahan, 52; her son Lior, 31; her daughter Sarit, 19; her daughter-in-law Tali, 34; and her granddaughter Shilat, 5 months’ old.

The five family members were killed after their vehicle caught fire following the collision with the truck. They were on their way to a family event at the time of the accident.

The indictment, filed in August 2010, noted five different acts of negligence committed by Gabor.

During his first investigations, the truck driver initially claimed he had leaned toward the glove compartment and was hit by an object inside the vehicle, causing him to swerve from his lane and hit the Dahan family’s oncoming car. The judge rejected Gabor’s claims and noted that the defendant had altered his story many times throughout his investigations.

The indictment filed against Gabor stated that he “drove the truck without taking reasonable precautions in order to prevent the accident and did not fit his driving to the road’s conditions.”