Police detain drivers involved in deadly Negev crash

The drivers of a bus and truck involved in a deadly crash were detained by police Tuesday night on suspicion that reckless driving caused a collision which left eight people dead earlier in the day.

The two men will be questioned on suspicion of causing death by negligence.

Eight people were killed and some 28 more injured after a tractor slipped off the truck and into a bus carrying Bedouin women back from Jerusalem in the northern Negev Tuesday afternoon.

The accident occurred on Route 31, near Lehavim junction, where the road meets with Route 40.

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Local politicians and relatives of victims said that the deadly accident on a notorious stretch of road in Israel’s south could have been prevented, charging that the government ignored warnings about the road’s conditions.

Eli Levi, head of the Lehavim Regional Council, said that he had warned the Transportation Ministry about the two-lane road that very morning.

An average of 10 people die every year on the road, according to Channel 2.

The head of the transportation company whose bus was involved in the crash said the driver blamed the truck for the accident.

“Crying, the man was crying. He told me there was an accident, many killed, and then hung up,” said the man, identified by Channel 2 only as Nazir.

Police were still investigating the cause of the accident Tuesday evening.

“The result of the accident is extremely difficult. We are still investigating and will continue to investigate the cause,” said Yoram Halevy, Israel Police Southern District Commander, according to the Mako news site. “The scene is very hard to look at, this is a tragic accident and difficult in every way.”

Stuart Winer and Jonathan Beck contributed to this report.