A five-year-old chareidi boy was killed this afternoon in Modi'in Illit when he was struck by a bus while riding his scooter.
The accident occurred on Avnei Nezer Street. Despite prolonged resuscitation efforts by paramedics from both United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom (MDA), the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
United Hatzalah reported: "Medical teams from United Hatzalah provided initial care and performed CPR on a five-year-old boy who was injured in an accident on Avnei Nezer Street in Modi'in Illit."
Yitzchak Neugeschel, a paramedic and head of United Hatzalah's Shfela district, said: "According to passersby, the child was riding a scooter and was struck by a vehicle, suffering critical injuries. We performed resuscitation on the boy, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene due to the severe nature of his injuries."
MDA reported receiving the call at 17:10 to its 101 emergency hotline about a pedestrian struck by a bus on Avnei Nezer Street. Paramedics and EMTs found a boy of approximately five years old with multi-system trauma and no signs of life, and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Amit Shemesh, a paramedic from MDA's motorcycle unit, along with EMTs Nati Roter and Yisrael Menachem Yitzchaki from the same unit, said: "When we arrived at the scene, we found a boy of about five years old unconscious, without a pulse or breathing, after being struck by a bus. We performed resuscitation, but unfortunately his injury was critical and we were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene."
Israel Police announced it has opened an investigation into the accident.
"Israel Police has begun investigating the circumstances of a serious traffic accident that occurred a short time ago in the city of Modi'in Illit, involving a bus and a scooter rider," the police statement said.
"As a result of the accident, the rider, a boy of approximately six years old, was injured and pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel."
Officers from the Modi'in Illit station are at the scene, and traffic accident investigators from the Shomron-Yehuda district are on their way to investigate the circumstances of the accident.
