Magen David Adom said its dispatch center received the call at 12:04 p.m. reporting a pedestrian child struck by a bus on Rabbi Akiva Street. MDA medics and paramedics pronounced the eight-year-old dead after treating him at the scene. Senior MDA medics Yedidya Chachmon and Moshe Kupperman said they found the boy unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with very severe injuries to his body, and that despite medical efforts, his injuries proved fatal.
Zaka's Ayalon region dispatch also responded to the scene.
Police said they have opened an investigation into the circumstances of the serious accident, which they described as involving a bus and a pedestrian. Officers from the Modiin Illit station and accident investigators from the Shai District are handling the probe. The bus driver is being questioned.
Passersby who spoke to Kikar HaShabbat said the boy was in the crosswalk when he was hit, and suggested the driver, like many drivers in the city according to residents, had been moving too fast. They said the reckless driving they describe among bus drivers in the city needs to stop, while stressing that responsibility for this specific accident is still under police investigation.
The intersection sits in a heavily trafficked area of Brachfeld that serves as a major route for both private vehicles and public buses throughout the day.
The tragedy comes after several difficult weeks of transportation-related incidents in Modiin Illit. Just days earlier, public transportation in the city was disrupted following a confrontation between a bus driver and a private shuttle driver. The city has also seen a number of serious traffic accidents in recent months.
Baruch Dayan HaEmet.
