Brothers, 5 and 7, killed when car slams into truck on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road
Victims identified as Yedidya and Elyashiv Jungreis from Beit El, brother with them in car seriously injured; reports indicate vehicle struck truck as it stood parked on roadside
Two brothers, aged five and seven, were killed Friday afternoon in a collision between a car and a truck on Route 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The victims were identified as Yedidya and Elyashiv Jungreis from the West Bank settlement of Beit El.
The driver of the car, 25, and a brother of the two boys, 14, were seriously injured and rushed to hospital.
The accident took place between the Latrun and Sha’ar Hagai interchanges. Initial reports from the scene indicated the car rammed into the truck that was stopped on the roadside.
Large numbers of police officers and rescue service members were at the scene and the highway was temporarily closed off for drivers traveling in the direction of Tel Aviv.
A paramedic for Magen David Adom said all four passengers were lying outside the vehicle when medical teams arrived. The young children were declared dead at the scene.
It was not clear what had led the car to collide with the truck, but some reports indicated the truck’s position on the road shoulder may have been unsafe.
So far 282 people have been killed in road accidents this year — the lowest number since 2014. This is possibly the result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led people to spend more time at home.