Thirteen IDF troops belonging to an elite unit were wounded when a military transport vehicle flipped over early Friday near the Sion River in the northern Mt. Dov region.
Three troops suffered serious injuries; three others sustained moderate injuries, while the rest were lightly wounded.
The accident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. EDT), as a “Safari” military transport vehicle carrying soldiers on their way to a Sabbath vacation flipped over as it was exiting an IDF outpost.
As the “Safari” is a heavily armored vehicle with relatively limited sitting space, some of the injured troops remained trapped inside it following the accident. At a certain point rescue forces turned the car back to its upright position to free one of the casualties.
Helicopters were summoned to the scene to evacuate the casualties to the Rivka Ziv Hospital in Safed and Haifa’s Rambam Hospital.
The initial investigation into the accident showed the vehicle apparently flipped over due to a malfunction of its brakes system.
All the casualties belong to an elite IDF unit that concluded its activity in the region. Last year the unit’s company commander was wounded from a mortar shell fired by Hizbullah toward the Mt. Dov area.
Six months ago IDF soldier Bassam el-Sariya was killed and two others troops were lightly injured when a military vehicle flipped over during a routine patrol of the Faran River area in the south.
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