On Thursday, two people were killed in seperate motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in different parts of Israel. In the first incident, a cyclist, aged 40, was hit by a car on Highway 42 near the entrance to Kfar Hanagid close to Yavneh. EMS teams from United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom who responded to the emergency performed CPR on the cyclist but were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Magen David Adom paramedic Chovev Tsubiri said: “A cyclist was lying unconscious on the side of the road. He had no pulse and was not breathing. He had suffered a full system impact due to the accident. We treated him at the scene and attempted to resuscitate him, but his wounds were too serious and unfortunately, we were forced to pronounce his death at the scene. The driver of the car was inconsolable, but did not require medical treatment that necessitated hospital transport.”

In a later incident, a 30-year-old man was killed and another man of similar age was seriously injured in a 2 vehicle MVA on Highway 40 near Mitzpe Rimon. FOur other people were moderately injured in the same accident, three of them were children between the ages of 4 and 8. One other person was lightly injured. EMS teams that arrived at the scene transported the injured and deceased via Magen David Adom and IDF helicopters to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva.

MDA paramedic Yonatan Popkin who was the first responder at the scene said: “This was a very serious accident. It occurred in an open area and off to the side of the highway. We saw one vehicle overturned that had been completely crushed. A few dozen meters away we found two people lying on the ground. One of them was a man, aged 30, who showed no signs of life and was suffering from a full system impact. We performed a number of medical checkups on him but were forced to pronounce his death shortly thereafter. We were able to treat the second injured person who was lying next to him and evacuate him via helicopter to Soroka hospital while he was in serious condition.

In the second vehicle were two adults and three young girls between the ages of 4 to 8. We treated them for their injuries and they were also evacuated by helicopter to Soroka hospital and their statuses were moderate to lightly injured.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)