According to the annual report by B’Terem, over the course of 2019, 123 children died in unnatural and preventable tragedies. The report which was titled “Child Death Toll Resulting From Unintentional Injuries” and published by Ynet, the majority of those killed were as a result of car accidents and drownings.

62 children, more than half of the total, died in car accidents. 18 children died as a result of drowning, which was the second biggest cause of death for children this year according to the report. Other causes of death for children according to the report include: Fires, choking, poison, electrocution, and being forgotten in a car.

The total number of children who were killed while being driven in a motorcycle or ATV rose from two in the previous year to six this year.

The majority of the drowning incidents killed children under the age of four and the majority of the drownings occurred within the home.

The report also showed that Arab children are in more danger than children from other backgrounds as more Arab children are killed in motor vehicle accidents, where as more of the Jewish children were killed in drowning or choking incidents.

The report also showed that the most dangerous age in 2019 was between 15 and 17-years-old. The age bracket included more than a quarter of all of the deaths reported. The second highest at-risk group were children aged 0-4.

Orly Silvinger, Director of B’Terem spoke about the report and said: “We aren’t forgetting for a second that we aren’t talking here about numbers but about children. Every child who is killed is another world destroyed and represents a painful tragedy for everyone. The common denominator for each of these children is that they all had loving families and parents. The vast majority of these cases were preventable. We cannot close our eyes and  say to ourselves that “such a tragedy will never happen to me.” We must do everything we can and stay vigilant in order to prevent another tragedy from occurring.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)