Special team to probe bus crash

VIDEO - A Defense Ministry jet will fly the bodies of the 25 victims killed in Tuesday's bus accident in southern Israel back to Russia at the end of all the necessary procedures, Russian Ambassador to Israel Piotr Stegniy and Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided Tuesday night. Video courtesy of Infolive.tv Meanwhile, the investigation into the fatal bus crash continued Wednesday morning, as police traffic investigators arrived at the scene of the accident to examine the site. Head of the Israel Police's traffic department, Commander Avi Ben-Hemo, appointed a special team to examine the circumstances leading to the accident. The team will be led by the head of the road accident department and its findings will be transferred to the traffic department in a few days. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday evening that his office's investigators suspect the two drivers argued which of them would cross an Israel Defense Forces barrier first. Shortly afterwards, the driver overtook the other bus and then lost control of the vehicle and dived 45-feet down off Highway 12. Rescue forces at scene of crash (Photo: Ruhama Biton) Mofaz, who visited the scene of the accident, said: "Unfortunately we still don't know what caused the crash. There has only been one accident on this section of the highway in the last six years, and experts of the National Infrastructure Ministry say that the road meets all the required standards." Mofaz added that the crash was "the result of aggressive behavior on the part of drivers." Police officials were surprised by the transportation minister's firm conclusions. Superintendent Shimon Butbul, commander of the Eilat Police's traffic department, said in response, "We know that the driver tried to overtake another bus following our questioning of the other driver. The driver who caused the accident tried to overtake, and a mistake in judgment before curve led to this result." He added that "Mofaz's statements are an interpretation which was has not been investigated. The two drivers stopped together at the roadblock, that's true. The rest of the issues have to be probed. "We've sent investigators, we conducted an initial probe and will conduct complementary one which will expand the picture so that we can see what happened and how it happened." 'There was no clash before accident' The driver of the second bus, Rami Vazana, denied in an Army Radio that he had a fight with the other driver, but said, "There was a situation in which I understood he wanted to leave (the military roadblock) before me, but there was no clash. He might have been irritated, but he was irritated on his own. I was calm." Vazana added that the driver "didn't keep his distance, and I understood he was trying to overtake me the entire time." Ynet learned Tuesday that the driver manning the wheel of the bus had 22 prior traffic offenses. The 39-year-old driver was seriously injured, as were 33 of the passengers. According to the National Road Safety Authority, the driver got his license in 2001. The police believe he was unfamiliar with the road, and lost control of the vehicle while trying to skirt another bus. Unable to correct his form, he ended up hitting the guardrail and flipping over. Efrat Weiss contributed to this report

Special team to probe bus crash

(Video) Russian ambassador to Israel accepts Defense Ministry's offer to fly remains of 25 travel agents killed in Tuesday's bus accident in southern Israel back to St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, investigators continue to examine scene of crash