A 13-year-old teenager was killed and four other people were badly injured on Tuesday evening after a two-car motor vehicle accident involving a wandering camel took place on Route 40 in the Negev. The accident occurred near the Nafha Prison on the Highway the bisects the Negev from north to south. Some of the injured passengers were trapped inside their vehicle for an elongated period of time before firefighters could extract them.

Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah EMS responders treated a 13-year-old boy at the scene of the collision. The boy’s condition was initially declared as being critical, however, paramedics at the scene were forced to declare his death.

In addition to the teenage boy, two other people in were in critical condition while another two were moderately injured. In order to evacuate the injured, two helicopters were flown in. Police are investigating the incident.

According to Or Yarok, an NGO whose mission is to combat fatal motor vehicle accidents in Israel, some 15 people were killed and 350 injured in car accidents involving animals that occurred over the last decade, many of which involved camels in the Negev.

Arutz Sheva reported that the Regavim movement together with MK Betzalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) submitted a draft of legislation known as the “Camel Law” in 2016. The law was intended to hold camel owners responsible for their animals and place a deterrent on letting camels wander by requiring the placement of identification microchips under the skin of each animal in a similar style to what is done in Israel with house pets.

“Despite the fact that every year over 1,000 complaints of wandering camels are received by the authorities, the wheels of legislative process haven’t turned as quickly as necessary to fight this danger,” said a spokesperson for Regavim in a statement on Tuesday. “Once again, the carnage has returned to the roads of the Negev.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)