6 killed, 5 hurt as minibus and truck collide in Jordan Valley

Six people were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a minibus on Route 90 in the Jordan Valley Sunday morning.

Five others were injured in the accident, which took place near the Petzael Junction, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. At least four are seriously hurt.

Some of the injured were rescued from the minibus after they were trapped as the vehicle’s structure collapsed. They were taken to hospitals by ambulance and a military helicopter.

The road was closed in both directions.

The minibus was reportedly shuttling a group of Palestinian men in their thirties to their workplace.

Police have detained the truck driver and launched an investigation into the accident.

Video footage from the scene appeared to show the truck veering into the opposite lane, at which point the minivan, in an attempt to evade it, swerves and crashes into it.

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The accident was the second major deadly crash on Route 90 in five days.

On Tuesday, the entire Atar family — Yariv Atar, 45, his wife Shoshi, 47, and their children Yaakov Yisrael, 12, Ateret, 11, Ayelet, 9, Moriah, 7, Yedid, 5, and Avigail, 3 — was killed in a crash with an SUV on Route 90 near Ein Bokek.

The minivan carrying the Atar family ignited following the accident and some of the dead were killed in the blaze, according to rescuers.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash. The driver of the SUV is under arrest as police investigate suspicions that he was driving under the influence of drugs. The accident was met with calls to bolster safety measures on the stretch of Route 90 where it occurred, which has seen other deadly crashes in the past.