Palestinian bus hits 7 Palestinian workers in Bethlehem, killing 2; driver flees

In an apparent hit-and-run, a bus hit seven Palestinian workers Wednesday morning near a crossing between the West Bank city of Bethlehem and Israel, killing two of them.

The bus, which is also Palestinian and which had been empty of passengers, fled the scene, the Israel Police said in a statement.

Israeli and Palestinian medics arrived at the scene, near the Rachel’s Tomb shrine, and pronounced one of the people dead.

Magen David Adom paramedics said the 27-year-old man had been trapped beneath the bus and was found without any vital signs.

Medics initially said that one other was moderately injured and the others suffered mild injuries. Five of them were taken to Jerusalem hospitals, while another was taken to a West Bank hospital by the Red Crescent.

However, Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital later said that another man injured in the incident had died of his injuries.

#صور.. من مكان حادث الدهس، عند حاجز بيت لحم الشمالي، قبل قليل. pic.twitter.com/HPELGcbzre

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) December 2, 2020

Israeli police officers located the bus, but the driver apparently fled on foot. Officers began a widespread search for the suspect.