Father and daughter killed in crash near Dead Sea
Accident latest in series of incidents over Sukkot holiday weekend, including deadly accidents in Beit Shemesh and Petah Tikva.
A man and his four-year-old daughter were killed Saturday evening, while his wife and other daughter were seriously injured in a collision between two cars at a junction on Highway 31, between the Dead Sea and Arad.
The father was pronounced dead at the scene and the girl died of her injuries in hospital a short time later.
The injured were identified as a 7-year-old girl, a 45-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man. The latter was the driver of the second car, who is believed to have driven into oncoming traffic, hitting the family's vehicle.
The injured were airlifted from the scene by Magen David Adom rescue helicopters, and rushed to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
An initial investigation by traffic police revealed that the accident occurred when the 40-year-old driver tried to overtake a bus and drove into the family car coming in the opposite direction, heading north from the Dead Sea.
The incident was the latest in a series of accidents over the Sukkot holiday weekend.
On Wednesday night, two people were killed and 10 others were injured when a taxi overturned on Jabotinsky Street in Petah Tikva.
A police investigation revealed that a commercial vehicle had collided with the taxi at the intersection of Moshe Dayan Road and Jabotinsky, not far from Beilinson Hospital, on a stretch of road dubbed the "road of death" due to the high number of fatal car accidents that have occurred there.
Of the injured, one person was in critical condition, three were moderately hurt and another six sustained light injuries.
On Thursday, eight people were injured in a car accident at the Lahavim intersection near Be'er Sheva. Three children were among the injured, including an 18-month-old boy.
In the Lower Galilee, an eight-year-old girl was injured Saturday morning when she fell off a bike on Kibbutz Hasolelim. Rescue personnel from the Gilboa region Magen David Adom evacuated the girl Rambam Hospital in Haifa suffering from head and chest injuries. She was placed in intensive care in moderate condition.
On Friday night, a 27-year-old man was knocked over and killed on Yehuda Ben Ze'ev Boulevard in Beit Shemesh. The man died after he was hit by a vehicle at about 11pm. An MDA team at the scene pronounced the man dead after resuscitation attempts failed. Police are investigating the circumstances of the hit and run.
Several hours later, five people were injured when a vehicle was involved in a collision in the northern village of Maghar. Among the injured was a 25-year-old man who was taken to Rambam Hospital in Haifa in serious condition. The rest of those involved sustained light to moderate injuries, and were transferred to Ziv hospital in Safed.
In Netanya, an 80-year-old pedestrian was seriously injured Friday when she was hit by a car on the corner of Jabotinsky and Baruch Ram streets. Rescue personnel from MDA in the Sharon region sedated her and placed her on a respirator before evacuating her to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
Another pedestrian and a driver sustained minor injuries in the incident and were evacuated to Laniado Hospital in Netanya.
