3 killed in 2 traffic accidents in Israel and West Bank
Suspected stolen car drives against traffic, smashing into another vehicle and killing both drivers
Three people were killed in two separate traffic accidents in Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday night.
Two individuals were killed in a car accident on Route 5 in the West Bank, near the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin.
A preliminary investigation indicated that one of the cars involved was stolen shortly before the accident from Kfar Saba in central Israel.
The stolen car hit another vehicle near the Oranit Junction in the West Bank, then turned and began driving against traffic, causing a head-on collision with another vehicle that killed both drivers.
First responders from the Magen David Adom emergency services group pronounced the two people dead at the scene.
One of the first responders, a firefighter, told Channel 12, “When we got to the scene we saw a vehicle that was flipped over and on fire, with someone trapped inside, and another vehicle also had a trapped person.”
“After rescue efforts, we pulled out the trapped people, who were no longer alive,” he said.
Police opened an investigation, and said that no one had been chasing the stolen vehicle when it crashed.
Route 5 connects the West Bank settlement of Ariel to central Israel and is used by Israeli drivers.
Less than an hour later after the deadly West Bank collision, a second accident involving two motorcycles and one car occurred on Route 65 near the northern Israeli town of Kafr Qara, southeast of Haifa.
A 25-year-old motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another three people suffered light to moderate injuries and were brought to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center near Hadera.
According to the Or Yarok nonprofit organization, which tracks traffic fatalities and road safety, 216 Israelis have died on the road so far this year, compared to 222 at the same time last year.
