Three women killed in car accidents

Three women were killed in three separate road accidents on Sunday afternoon.

In an incident near the Ketziot junction in southern Israel, a woman was killed in a hit-and-run.

MDA paramedics who arrived on the scene pulled the badly injured woman out of her car, but moments later pronounced her dead.

A preliminary police investigation indicated that the offender overtook a car that was traveling in front of him and collided head-on with the woman, who was driving in the opposite direction. As a result of the collision, the woman lost control of her car and the vehicle overturned.

The offender then escaped from his car to the fields by the road, where another vehicle picked him up and sped away from the scene. Police erected roadblocks in the area in order to locate the offender.

The probe also revealed that an IDF officer who witnessed the accident fired at the offender and the vehicle that picked him up, thinking that the incident was terror related.

Police were attempting to establish the identity of the offender, who left his vehicle at the scene. A helicopter was scanning the terrain to assist police in finding the criminal. Markings at the scene suggested that the offender was also injured.

In another accident on Sunday afternoon, a woman was killed and five people were injured - one critically and four moderately. The critically injured passenger was a 10-year-old girl and a set of twins was among the casualties.

Police said the accident occurred when a car and truck crashed on the Arava Road, 60 kilometers north of Eilat, near Kibbutz Lotan. Two helicopters evacuated the casualties to Beersheba's Soroka Hospital.

In third accident, in Ashdod, an 80-year-old woman was seriously injured after she was hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing. The woman was evacuated to a nearby hospital but medical staff failed to save her life.

Meanwhile, in Petah Tikva, a woman was critically injured after she was hit by a bus. The woman suffered from serious head injuries, MDA said.

In related news, a truck driver was arrested on Saturday night after police said a fuel leak from his vehicle led to a fatal car crash on Route 90, near Bet She'an. A married couple was killed and their daughter, who was at the wheel, was orphaned in Saturday's incident.

Rian Hako, a 55-year-old truck driver from the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in the lower Galilee, was brought before a Nazareth court on Sunday where his custody was extended by a day, police said. Hako denied his truck had leaked fuel onto the road.

Simhoni Yehuda, 52, an off-duty border policeman, and his wife Ester were killed when their car lost road traction after driving over a fuel puddle, police said. This caused the vehicle to swerve into another lane and crash into an oncoming car. The driver of the latter car was seriously injured.

The car allegedly affected by the fuel puddle was driven by 26-year-old Nofar. The family was heading back to their home in Moshav Yardena, near Bet She'an after visiting their soldier son, Maor, at the IDF base where he serves, near Nablus. Maor did not have the opportunity to see his parents as he was required to attend a briefing.

Nofar said she was driving at a normal speed when she suddenly felt she lost control of the car. Simhoni grabbed the wheel in an attempt to regain control, but the car was then struck by a second vehicle, she said, recounting the accident.

Ch.-Supt. Shimon Ben Shevo, Amakim Traffic Police commander, said Hako would be charged for causing death by dangerous driving if police can prove that he left fuel on the road. Shevo said leaving fuel on the road was equivalent to a hit and run offense, as a driver leaves a lethal situation on the road. Hako continued to deny that fuel leaked from his truck, telling police his vehicle had suffered a punctured tire near the scene of the accident. No leakage had resulted from the puncture, Hako said, adding that he would have placed warning triangles on the highway in the event of a leak. Police said Hako's truck would be examined as the investigation continues.