Four dead, dozens injured after bus smashes into parked truck

Four people were killed and dozens more injured when a bus smashed into a truck that was parked at the side of a major highway near central Israel Sunday.

Rescue services said some 35 people were hurt, three critically, in the accident on Route 6 near the Sorek interchange outside Gedera.

The Metropolin No. 377 bus was traveling from Rishon Lezion to Beersheba. Pictures from the scene showed a garbage truck on its side near the bus.

An initial investigation indicated that the bus hit the truck, which was parked on the right shoulder of the road, causing both vehicles to overturn.

The accident occurred on the southbound lane of the Trans-Israel Highway. Traffic on the southbound side of the highway, a major north-south artery, was shut down.

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Several ambulances and helicopters responded to the scene. Magen David Adom head Eli Bean said rescue services had a difficult time responding to the scene because of the traffic jam formed behind the accident. Officials requested that drivers find alternative routes.

The injured were taken to area hospitals.

Two of the dead were soldiers. They were later identified as Private Hai Ben-Naim, 19, from Rishon Lezion, and Staff Sergeant Kfir Dahari, 22, from Yavne.

The cause of the accident, which occurred just after 1 p.m., was not immediately clear.

But first reports said police, having questioned both drivers, found no fault with the truck driver. The bus driver reportedly told police that he was driving behind a heavy vehicle along the highway. The vehicle in front of him suddenly veered left, and he smashed into the parked truck before he had time to avoid it.

Last week two people were killed and five injured in a collision between a truck and a commercial vehicle in the north of the country.