Tank crew injured in training accident
Vehicle flips over during maneuver in latest IDF safety failure
Four tank crew members were lightly injured Tuesday after their vehicle flipped over while training in Israel’s south. Initial reports by Walla News said the driver violated at least one safety regulation.
The accident was the latest in a serious of IDF mishaps. Last week a tank engine caught fire during a drill by reservists in the Tze’elim area.
Most seriously, Private Roi Alphi, 19, was killed last Tuesday when a land mine exploded on the Golan Heights during a mine-clearing operation. It was not immediately clear what caused the mine to detonate. The Israel Defense Forces was investigating what it said was an unprecedented accident. Alphi, who was in training in the Combat Engineering Corps, was clearing anti-tank mines in the southern Golan, near the small town of Yonatan.
Two reserve air force pilots died in March after their Cobra helicopter gunship crashed near Revadim, in the south of Israel.
The veteran pilots were on a routine flight exercise and did not radio in any news of technical difficulties. An investigation said the cause of the accident was a technical failure in one of the rotors.