Three men were found dead overnight Saturday in a burned-out vehicle in an open area between the towns of Baka al-Gharbiya and Jatt in central Israel, police said.
The identities of the three men were not immediately known, and police said the incident was believed to have a criminal background. The victims were found in the back seat of the vehicle.
Three men found dead in burned-out car in central Israel
No suspects had been arrested as of early Sunday. Police said large forces were dispatched to the scene and opened an investigation, while a police helicopter was also operating in the area.
Magen David Adom said its emergency hotline received a report about the incident and that paramedics arrived while the vehicle was still on fire. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, medical teams found three men inside the car unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, and pronounced them dead at the scene.
“When we arrived, we saw a vehicle on fire,” MDA emergency medic Abed Yadsi and paramedics Achva Saadia and Said Majadla said. “After the fire was extinguished, we saw three men inside the vehicle who were unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing. We had no choice but to pronounce them dead at the scene.”
Three men found dead in burned car near Baka al-Gharbiya, police suspect criminal motive
The incident came amid several other violent crimes in Arab communities over the weekend.
On Saturday evening, a man in his 40s was seriously wounded and another man in his 30s was lightly wounded in a shooting in Umm al-Fahm. MDA teams evacuated them to Emek Medical Center in Afula, and police opened an investigation.
Earlier, a 14-year-old boy was seriously wounded in a shooting in Kafr Kanna in what police described as a criminal incident. A day earlier, a 16-year-old boy was seriously wounded in a shooting in Jaljulia.