There are no words of comfort for those whose loved ones perish in vehicular accidents, deaths that are generally preventable by taking a number of basic steps, including the use of shoulder restraint safety belts, driving more cautiously, and addressing the increasing contributory factor, the use of a cellular telephone while operating a motor vehicle.

Another family was snuffed out on Israel’s roads on Sunday, in the Negev, in a collision involving two IDF vehicles. A 70-year-old grandmother, her 39-year-old daughter, her two grandchildren, a girl (2) and boy (9 months) z”l were killed, burned to death on Route 40 near HaNegev Junction.

From the information obtained based on preliminary findings of accident investigation experts, a military vehicle traveling northbound passed illegally, with the driver finding himself head-to-head with an IDF truck, smashing into the truck head-on, and subsequently into two additional vehicles, with a Mercedes Benz, in which the family was traveling, bursting into flames. The victims were literally burned alive.

MDA Paramedic Ze’ev Avraham stated “it was simply horrific and it reminded me of the accident recently in which the five members of the Dahan family perished (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=49304) in a similar fashion” as they were traveling to a family wedding earlier this month.

It took many hours to track down and notify family members and late at night, dozens of friends and relatives converged on the grandmother’s home in Nes Tziona. Her son told reporters that his sister arrived from the United States about ten day ago for a family visit, accompanied by young daughter and they are scheduled to leave in three days, but now “their entire world has been torn asunder and they haven’t a clue what to do”. They traveled to the US about 18 months ago, Menucha and her husband and their children to permit her to complete her doctorate studies.

They were heading to Kibbutz Revivim when the accident occurred, planning to spend some time with good friends. When the friends realized their guests were very late they tried reaching them by cellular telephone, but to no avail. A few minutes later, she saw a photo on the news of the burned vehicle, which she thought looked similar to that of her friends. This prompted her to phone the family home in Nes Tziona, resulting in the beginning of the chain of telephone calls leading to the horrific confirmation of the tragedy.

Accident investigators interviewed the driver of the IDF truck and others, and it appears the other military vehicle was at fault. The accident also left seven injured, including the driver of the IDF vehicle, who is reported in serious condition, and four other soldiers and two civilians in light condition. They were all transported to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. The other soldiers in the truck sustained light injuries, but that did not prevent them from extricating the victims in the second vehicle hit by the IDF driver who collided with the truck.

A number of hours later, another serious incident occurred, this time in Ofakim, also in the south. Two children on bicycles were struck by a taxi cab. One of the victims sustained a serious head injury and the second a moderate injury, to his abdominal cavity.

During the predawn hours, two residents of Druse communities in the Galil were killed in Tel Aviv, when their vehicle struck a pole as they tried to avoid a police inspection. On motzei shabbos, on Route 90, two men and a woman were killed in an accident near Ein Geidi.

In a related matter, a 50-year-old male injured seriously in a MVA on Thursday died of his injuries in Rambam Medical Center in Haifa on Sunday.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)