Israeli tourist killed in South Africa car crash named
Oshri Malsa, 22, from Ashdod dies in head-on collision caused by faulty traffic light in Johannesburg; was on a post-army trip
The Israeli tourist who was killed in a car accident in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, has been identified as Oshri Malsa, a 22-year-old resident of the Israeli port city of Ashdod.
Malsa was the driver of a vehicle that collided head-on with another car because of a faulty traffic light at a junction, according to an initial investigation of the incident, Hebrew media reported. Malsa was killed and three others were injured.
Malsa was on a post-army trip in South Africa with friends, his family said, leaving Israel a day after the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, earlier this month. He had served in the Israeli Air Force, completing his service a year and a half ago.
Malsa’s brother Ilan told Ynet Sunday that the death was a catastrophe and that the family was having a hard time internalizing what had happened.
He said his brother was on the way to a birthday party when the accident occurred and denied that alcohol was involved.
Friends and family described Malsa as a “special person” who was “always helpful, smiling and happy.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry received the news of the fatal car crash at 5:00 a.m. Israel time. The Ministry was assisting Malsa’s family with arrangements to transport the body to Israel for burial.
Of the three people injured in the crash, one woman was hospitalized in serious condition and two other men were released from the hospital after being treated for light injuries.
The car crash is the latest in a string of incidents that have claimed the lives of Israeli nationals abroad.
Last Tuesday, on the eve of Yom Kippur, two Israeli children were killed in a car crash in Georgia, when the family’s car plunged into a gorge.
On Monday, an Israeli tourist died from altitude sickness in Bolivia after cycling on what is popularly known as the “Road of Death.”
