Two soldiers killed when truck overturns in south
Tractor-trailer flips along highway outside army base just north of Eilat trapping the occupants; army launches probe into the crash
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Two soldiers were killed when their truck flipped over in southern Israel on Thursday, the army said.
One of them was a conscripted soldier while the other was a reservist, the army said.
They were later identified as Master Sgt. Ya’akov Twati, 35, from Dimona and Pvt. Habtamu Abebe, 19, from Kiryat Gat.
Following the incident, the head of the IDF’s Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, announced that the crash would be investigated by a team headed by Col. Nitzan Mimrod, the head of the IDF’s logistics school.
The IDF Military Police will also conduct its own investigation of the truck crash.
The accident occurred outside the 80th Division’s base, approximately three miles (five kilometers) north of the city of Eilat, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The two men were trapped inside the tractor-trailer after it overturned. They were pulled out of the vehicle by members of the Fire and Rescue Authority.
Medical teams from Magen David Adom and the Israel Defense Forces treated the critically injured victims, but were forced to pronounce them dead at the scene.
The army initially barred publication of the fact that they were soldiers until their families were notified.
Last month, a soldier was killed and three others were wounded when a jeep they were traveling in overturned near the southern Gaza Strip border.
