Two Israelis were killed in separate car accidents on Saturday, as the death toll of a particularly deadly week on the roads rose to 18.
Rami Abu Alqian, a 33-year-old resident of Hura, was killed in a vehicle rollover on Highway 80, near the South Hebron Hills. His six- and 10-year-old children who were in the car were lightly to moderately injured. Rami was rushed to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, where the medical staff was forced to pronounce his death.
In the early hours of Saturday, Liron Barmi, a 14-year-old pedestrian who was fatally injured after being struck by a vehicle on Friday night in Petah Tikva, was pronounced dead at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital.
The girl was a resident of Sderot who was staying with a family in Petah Tikva. From a preliminary investigation, it is suspected that she was crossing Road 40 at a crosswalk when a vehicle coming from the direction of the Sirkin intersection to Maccabit Road hit her with enough force to throw her dozens of meters away.
A patrol car of the Petah Tikva Police Department that happened to be passing the area saw the accident and called rescue teams and medical personnel.
The girl was found lying injured on Ya’akov Hazan Street suffering from multi-system damage. Magen David Adom teams gave her medical treatment and evacuated her to the hospital while performing CPR. She was pronounced dead on Saturday morning.
“We saw an unconscious girl in the middle of the road suffering from multi-system damage,” said MDA paramedic Tomer Payne. “We attempted to give her medical treatment while she was not breathing and without a pulse, and we performed advanced and prolonged resuscitation operations even while evacuating her to the hospital when she was in critical condition.”
Deadly accidents on the rise
On the same night, one person was seriously injured and another three moderately injured in traffic accidents in Bat Yam, Kiryat Al-Hivov and the Efrat Junction. Another 19 Israelis were moderately and severely injured in several accidents across the country the previous day.
The tragedy added to a particularly deadly week on the roads, during which 18 people were killed in accidents across the country, according to Israeli media.
Earlier this week, two bus drivers, Yoav Hamari and Hanoch Telker from Ofakim, were run over while trying to help people injured in another accident on Route 4.
In a fatal accident in Jerusalem, 40-year-old Shoshona Glostein, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was killed, along with her two young daughters, Chaya Sara (7) and Hana (2) when a bus lost control and hit a bus stop.
A few hours earlier, a 60-year-old woman and a 5-year-old girl were killed in an accident between a car and a truck, and in Holon a truck driver was killed following a collision between two trucks. Seven of this week's fatalities were pedestrians.
Overall, 24 people have been killed in road accidents since the beginning of the month, according to Maariv.
Herzog declares war on traffic accidents
The battle against traffic accidents "is a battle for all of our lives," President Isaac Herzog tweeted Saturday evening, calling on Israelis across the country to "stay safe, keep your loved ones safe and keep us safe."
18 ישראליות וישראלים יקרים איבדו השבוע את חייהם בתאונות דרכים. 18 עולמות שנחרבו לאהוביהם בשבוע אחד. זה מזעזע. המלחמה בתאונות הדרכים היא מלחמה על החיים של כולנו. אני פונה לכולם - היו זהירים בנהיגה, ברכיבה ובהליכה בכל כביש וצומת. שימרו על עצמכם, על יקיריכם ועלינו!
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) August 13, 2022
“Please remain careful while driving, riding or walking on any road and at every intersection,” he implored, lamenting that “18 worlds were destroyed in one week.”