A bus driver was killed, and 24 people were injured after a bus carrying a group of girls on a trip collided with a tractor on Route 25 near the Beit HaGadi Junction, close to the entrance to the town of Shibolim, on Friday morning, Magen David Adom (MDA) said.
After performing medical examinations, MDA medics and paramedics pronounced the death of the bus driver, a man of about 50.
MDA and United Hatzalah teams treated the wounded and evacuated them to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Among them were a 61-year-old woman in serious condition with multisystem trauma, a 35-year-old woman in moderate condition with injuries to her limbs, and 22 people who were lightly hurt, including the tractor driver.
A report of a road accident between a tractor and a bus was received at Magen David Adom’s (MDA) 101 emergency call center at 8:02 a.m., the medical service said.
Emergency responders rescue people trapped inside the bus
Southern District police officers arrived at the scene and were working with emergency and rescue services, police said. Firefighters from the Netivot station worked to extract people trapped inside the bus, the Israel Fire and Rescue Services’ Southern District said.
After the accident, the road was closed to westbound traffic, and traffic police directed vehicles at the scene. Police accident investigators have opened an investigation into the crash.