Mother And 3 Children Killed As Bus Loses Control And Crashes Into Private Vehicle In Upper Galilee

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — 5 people were killed, including a mother and her 3 children, and 2 more seriously injured in a horrific road accident between a bus and private vehicles which occurred near the village of Churfeish in the Upper Galilee on Wednesday afternoon. 33 more people on the bus were also injured, including many children from the village of Mevo Dotan in Samaria and the nearby town of Charish who were returning home from a Bnei Akiva camp in the north.

Initial reports say that the 76-year-old driver of the bus, who was also killed in the accident, had veered out of his lane and hit three other vehicles before the bus overturned on its side.

Paramedics arriving at the scene of the accident on road 89 between Churfeish and the town of Maalot were forced to declare the death of four occupants of a private van: a 35-year-old woman and her children aged 15, 11 and 5. The dead persons were later identified as Moran Ben-Eli from the town of Maalot and her children Dekel (15), Liyam (11) and Anael (5) . Moran’s husband Reuven was seriously injured and hospitalized in Rambam hospital in Haifa. The driver of the bus was named as David Basson from Kiryat Yam near Haifa.

Moran Ben-Eli and her three children z’l

33 children were taken to the Nahariya Medical Center, 29 of them in light condition and 4 in moderate condition.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted that “”my heart is torn after seeing scenes from the tragic accident in the Upper Galilee. I wish to send condolences from the depths of my heart and a huge hug to the families of the deceased at their difficult time. The entire Jewish nation is praying for the recovery of the injured persons. I ask the Israeli public to be exceedingly careful when travelling on the roads. We should not know any more anguish.”