A bus driver was killed on Friday morning when his bus collided with a tractor on Route 25 in the Negev, near the entrance to Shibolim. The bus was taking a group of girls on an outing. More than 20 people were hurt. United Hatzalah said its teams treated several of the wounded at the scene, among them children, and that their injuries ranged from light to serious.
Westbound traffic on the road was shut after the collision, and traffic police controlled vehicles at the site.
Magen David Adom said its 101 emergency call center received the report of a crash between a tractor and a bus at 8:02 a.m. The collision took place near the Beit HaGadi Junction, also called Gadi Junction, at the entrance to Moshav Shibolim.
Early casualty figures differed. Walla reported that 23 people with light injuries were taken to hospital. Fifteen were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and eight to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Walla also reported that two people in moderate condition were pulled from the bus and that the tractor driver was lightly hurt. Arutz Sheva, citing initial reports from the scene, put the number of injured at about 30. It said several of them had moderate or serious injuries.
The Southern District of the Israel Fire and Rescue Services said firefighters from the Netivot station worked to free several people trapped inside the bus.
Southern District police officers worked with the emergency and rescue teams at the scene. Police accident investigators have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.
