Beit Dagan Interchange
Photo: Eli Senyor
Toddler killed after falling from moving vehicle
2.5-year-old girl was not buckled and the door to the car was unlocked; driver initially believed to have fled the scene, but later turned up near hospital, saying he was told to go there by rescue teams.
A 2.5-year-old girl was killed Friday night after falling from a moving vehicle and hitting her head at the Beit Dagan Interchange.
She was taken in critical condition to the Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries.
The driver, the girl's mother's partner, was at first believed to have taken advantage of the commotion caused by the arrival of paramedics to flee the scene with the vehicle. Police launched a manhunt for him and arrested him an hour later near the hospital.
The scene of the accident (Photo: Eli Senyor)
Initial investigation into the accident found that the family car the girl was in was heading towards Tel Aviv from Rishon LeZion. The girl was apparently not wearing a seatbelt and the door was unlocked. When the car turned at the Beit Dagan Interchange, the girl fell out. It remains unclear whether the girl opened the door herself, or whether it was opened as a result of the car turning.
"This was the worst spectacle I've ever seen," an eye-witness said. "We were driving and we saw something flying ahead of us, and all of a sudden we realized there's a girl on the road. She was completely white."
Witnesses said a policeman on the scene rushed to help and asked the driver to pull over. But the driver, from southern Israel, left.
The driver, however, claimed he did not run away. He told police investigators that he was waiting at the scene of the accident until ambulances arrived and was then told to drive to the hospital. Since he is not familiar with the area, it took him a while to get to the hospital, he said. He also claimed he did not see exactly what had happened at the back of the car.
Police was inclined to accept the driver's version of events, as he was caught near the hospital.
The driver was reportedly not intoxicated, and held a valid license. Police believe a problem with the car's registration might have been the reason for his leaving the scene of the accident.
A police official said the suspect's version matches the events at the scene of the accident. "This isn't a classic hit-and-run. The suspect noticed the ambulances arriving at the scene and only then drove away. As someone who is not local, he probably lost his way driving to the hospital. Be that as it may, his version will be checked again," the official said.
Despite that, the driver is still under arrest and police investigators are considering whether to bring him for a remand extension on Saturday night.
