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Negev: Car strikes camel, driver killed
Senior Magen David Adom official killed on his way to New Year's toast in Arad when his car strikes a young camel. Police: Camel's owner will be charged with criminal negligence
A man was killed Tuesday evening when his car struck a camel crossing the Beersheba-Arad highway in the Negev.
A Magen David Adom (MDA) doctor dispatched to the scene pronounced the driver's death shortly after the accident.
The man was later identified as Dimona resident Shlomi Amar, 58, deputy chief of the MDA's Negev Sub-District. He was on his way to a New Year's toast with the organization's employees and volunteers in Arad when the accident occurred.
Superintendent Rehavia Omasi, head of the police's Negev Sub-District Traffic Department, told Ynet "the camel, despite being small, smashed the car completely. When we find its owner he or she will be charged with criminal negligence."
According to Southern District Traffic Police Chief Zeev Gutman, since the beginning of the year police received some 400 reports of camels roaming freely along Negev roads.
Accidents involving camels are almost routine in the region, despite the residents' initiative whereby text messages are sent to drivers to inform them of the camels' location.
Two years ago the Agriculture Ministry suggested planting special chips under the camels' skin so police could easily track down their owners, but the proposal fell through.
