Two killed, teen seriously hurt in separate southern Israel crashes
Four others hospitalized after car slams into parked vehicle on side of Route 34; 25-year-old killed after colliding with guardrail on Route 6
Two men in their 20s were killed and five others were injured in separate traffic incidents in southern Israel Sunday morning, authorities said.
One man was killed when a car crashed into a parked vehicle on the side of a highway near the Gaza border Sunday morning, police said.
The collision occurred on Route 34 between Kibbutz Erez and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai near the Erez Junction.
A 22-year-old man who suffered multi-system trauma was declared dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
An 18-year-old man who suffered a head injury was rushed to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon in serious condition. A 16-year-old boy and three men between the ages of 30 and 60 were also hospitalized with moderate injuries, medics said.
Hours later, a 25-year-old man was killed when his car hit a guardrail on Route 6 near the Lehavim Junction north of Beersheba, according to Israeli media reports citing Magen David Adom.
Rescuers who arrived at the scene found the man trapped in his vehicle, and declared him dead after he was extracted.
Authorities did not name a cause for either crash, but they came after several days of heavy rains across the country, which can create slick conditions on roads.
Israel saw a general rise in the number of fatal car crashes in 2023, with a total of 358 people killed in 313 fatal accidents, according to data from Israel’s National Road Safety Authority. This represents a 2 percent increase in deaths compared to the 2022 total, and a 5% increase compared to the 2020-2022 average.
Erez Junction is less than 5 kilometers away from the Erez border crossing on the northern border between Gaza and Israel. Most civilians have been evacuated from the area, though many have returned in recent weeks.
Both Kibbutz Erez and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai were directly attacked on October 7, as Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel under heavy rocket cover.
Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that Yad Mordechai’s security team was able to successfully stave off the attackers with no casualties to their forces. Kibbutz Erez experienced an hours-long gun battle in which one member of their security team was killed but residents were ultimately able to keep the terrorists out.
