Two bodies found in torched car in suspected double homicide

Two charred bodies were extracted from a burning vehicle in central Israel on Wednesday night, in what police believe to be a double homicide.

Firefighters discovered the bodies after they were dispatched to the Ramle interchange on Highway 6 to extinguish the blaze. The car was parked in an open area off the main highway.

The identity of the two casualties was not immediately clear, and police launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of the victims’ death.

According to the police’s preliminary assessment, the attack was criminal in nature. The BMW belonged to a man from northern Israel known to police, according to the Walla news website, and the two victims are thought to have been shot to death before the vehicle was torched.

In recent years there has been an upsurge in violent attacks and assassinations between Israel’s organized crime gangs, prompting Israel to establish in 2008 the Lahav 443 police unit dedicated to combating organized crime.