Victims' coffins
Photo: Reuters
Attorney Eli Gervits
Photo: Yuri Gershberg
Bus crash victims' families to sue Israel
Russia yet to release names of tourists killed in fatal accident near Eilat, but relatives already planning to file damages suit against Jewish state
Dozens of relatives and acquaintances waited Thursday night for a plane to land in Russia with the bodies of the tourists killed in Tuesday's fatal bus crash
on the road leading to the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.
Several of the families of the people killed and injured in the accident turned to Israeli lawyer Eli Gervits and asked him to represent them in a damages suit against the State of Israel.
The fact that Russia had yet to release the names of the casualties only increased the tension and anxiety among the families. The remains were sent to St. Petersburg after being only partially identified, and the procedure was to be completed there.
Investigation
Efrat Weiss
Driver from bus accident that left 24 dead arrested immediately after being released from hospital; placed under house arrest by court. Team investigating crash finds 'black box' was missing required disk, didn’t record data
"I explained to everyone that there's a compensatory payments law in Israel so there's no need to worry, and that Israel will look for ways to compensate the casualties' families and the people injured," he said.
Coffins on way to Russia (Photo: AP)
The procedure is expected to take a long time, despite the fact that the Israeli law on damages to accident victims does not distinguish between Israeli citizens and foreign nationals.
"With all the Israeli empathy to the crash victims, they shouldn't expect the payment to be swift," said Gerlitz.
Alex Kobrin, CEO of the Classic Travel company in St. Petersburg, which deals with tourism to Israel, told Ynet that his company had sent more than 10 travel agents to Eilat.
One of his office workers, a woman in her 30s, was killed in the accident. The worker's mother is still hospitalized at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
Kobrin has received hundreds of phone calls since the accident from concerned citizens.
"The mother of one of the people killed, a man in his 50s, called every hour asking if there was any news," he said. "I told her he would likely return home in a coffin and she broke into tears."
Despite the disaster, Kobrin says there are still happy endings. A person whose mother was on the bus involved in the crash was asked not to head to Israel on a special flight, as she had died in the accident. The man insisted and arrived in Israel himself, only to find his mother hospitalized.
