Four killed, including 2 toddlers, in car crash in south

Four people, including two toddlers, were killed Monday in what was likely a head-on car crash at an intersection in the country’s south, west of Beersheba.

Two adults were also pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The two young victims were aged 18 months and three years old.

All four victims are thought to be from the same family, Channel 12 reported.

A 30-year-old woman with serious injuries to her lower body was flown to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Another man was treated at the scene before he too was taken to hospital with light injuries.

Magen David Adom paramedics arriving at Urim Junction in Southern Israel said they were confronted with overturned vehicles by the side of the road, one of which contained five injured people.

Police said they had closed the road pending an investigation.

Police said they also responded to a separate car crash on Monday afternoon between a bus and a private car. A statement said there were two people injured in the incident near the West Bank settlement of Nili, both of whom had been trapped in the private vehicle and were receiving treatment at the scene.

Police later confirmed that two women, both approximately 30 years old, died in the incident.

According to National Road Safety Authority statistics, 50 people have been killed on Israeli roads since the beginning of the year — a 20 percent increase on the death toll this time last year.