7 soldiers injured as bulldozer collides with APC in northern Israel
Reasons behind crash still unknown; victims were working to shore up defenses along Lebanese border before the crash
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Seven soldiers were injured to varying degrees when a D9 bulldozer collided with an armored personnel carrier in the area between Har Dov and Mt. Hermon near the Lebanese border on Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The victims — one officer, one non-commissioned officer and five enlisted soldiers — received some treatment on the scene before being taken to nearby hospitals, including Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center and Safed’s Ziv Hospital, for further care.
The crash occurred at sundown, around 8:00 p.m., as the vehicles left the Har Dov area.
Two of the soldiers were initially reported to be critically injured in the crash, but this was later improved to serious condition at the hospital.
Both Magen David Adom and IDF helicopters arrived at the scene to transport the victims to the hospitals, though treatment was provided by military medics, according to MDA.
The reasons behind the crash were not immediately clear. The IDF immediately opened an investigation into the incident to determine its cause.
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The seven soldiers were members of the army’s Combat Engineering Corps, working on improving the defenses along Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The fact that the victims were soldiers was not initially released, as their families had yet to be informed.
Initial reports that the bulldozer overturned appeared to have been incorrect, the army said.
