Bus driver killed in Route 25 crash with tractor near Shibolim

The driver of a bus carrying a group of girls was killed on Friday morning when the bus collided with a tractor on Route 25 near Shibolim, in Israel's southern Negev region. Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service, said its medics pronounced the driver dead at the scene after examining him. He was described as a man of about 50.

According to the same Magen David Adom update, a 61-year-old woman was taken to hospital in serious condition with injuries to several body systems, a 35-year-old woman was taken in moderate condition with limb injuries, and 22 other people were evacuated with light injuries. The wounded were sent to Soroka and Barzilai hospitals. The Times of Israel reported that at least 20 passengers were hurt, while The Jerusalem Post described dozens of wounded in a crash it placed near Netivot.

How the morning unfolded

Magen David Adom said its emergency call centre for the Negev district received the first report at 08:02, through 101, the organisation's emergency number. Its first statement said medics and paramedics were treating several casualties of varying severity.

Early reports from Israeli broadcasters filled in the picture over the following half hour. N12 News reported that firefighters were also working at the scene and that, according to initial information, the bus had been taking a group of girls on an outing. The channel later said everyone who had been trapped in the vehicles had been freed. Ynet reported that rescue teams were working to free people trapped, and in a later alert said the driver was pinned in the vehicle in critical condition.

N12 reported that the bus struck the tractor from behind. It also reported that police had arrived and that the westbound lanes of Route 25 had been closed to traffic, a closure Ynet also reported. A helicopter arrived at the scene to help evacuate the wounded, according to N12.

Ynet then reported that the driver's death had been confirmed, in line with the Magen David Adom statement.

Who was on the bus

The reports agree that the passengers were girls, though they describe them in slightly different terms. N12 and The Jerusalem Post said the girls were travelling together as a group on an outing. Ynet referred to them as schoolgirls. One N12 update described the passengers simply as children. None of the reports names a school, a youth organisation or the community the group came from.

The two adult women whose ages were released by Magen David Adom, aged 61 and 35, are not identified in the reports, and it is not stated whether they were passengers, escorts or occupants of the tractor.

Context for readers outside Israel

Magen David Adom, often shortened to MDA, is Israel's equivalent of a national ambulance and paramedic service. It publishes casualty updates directly on its messaging channels, and Israeli media frequently relay those figures as events develop, which is why early numbers in a story like this often shift within the hour.

The Negev is the large, largely arid region that makes up much of southern Israel. Shibolim is a small community in the area, and The Jerusalem Post located the crash near Netivot, a nearby town. Route 25 is a road running through the region. Soroka and Barzilai are among the main hospitals serving southern Israel, and patients from incidents in this area are commonly divided between them.

Israeli medical services describe injuries using a standard scale: light, moderate, serious and critical. "Critical" indicates an immediate threat to life. These are the categories used in the casualty figures above.

Where the reports differ

The casualty figures changed as the morning went on, and the outlets do not fully agree:

• An earlier MDA update relayed by N12 listed about 3 people with moderate injuries and about 20 with light injuries. Ynet also reported three moderately hurt at that stage. MDA's later statement listed one person in moderate condition and one in serious condition.
• MDA and N12 put the number of lightly injured at 22. The Jerusalem Post's report referred to 23 people evacuated with light injuries.
• The Times of Israel said at least 20 passengers were wounded. The Jerusalem Post said dozens.
• Most reports place the crash near Shibolim. The Jerusalem Post placed it near Netivot.

These differences may reflect reports filed at different moments, but the outlets do not explain them, and this page does not attempt to reconcile them.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives a cause for the collision beyond N12's account that the bus hit the tractor from behind. There is no information on the condition of the tractor driver, or on whether anyone on the tractor was hurt. The bus driver has not been named. The reports do not say whether police have opened an investigation, how long Route 25 remained closed, or where the group of girls was travelling from or to. No official statement from police, the bus operator or the girls' organisers appears in the material.