Israeli Train-Truck Crash Kills at Least 4

JERUSALEM – A passenger train collided with a truck in central Israel Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring more than 100, rescue officials said.

Passengers were thrown out of the train cars after the crash. At least two of the train cars derailed and were on their sides. Television footage showed several mangled and twisted train cars. Splinters of metal were strewn on the side of the tracks.

Ambulances raced to the scene, about 25 miles south of Tel Aviv, and helicopters arrived to help transport the wounded.

“I see at least four or five bodies covered with blankets,” said Eli Eskozido, a local area council member at the scene.

The Magen David Adom rescue services issued a statement saying eight people were killed, but later retracted that, saying that four or five people had been killed. More than 100 others were injured, the rescue service said.

“One of the railroad cars is upside down, and it’s impossible to tell what’s inside,” Dudi Greenwald, a medic at the scene, told Israel Radio. “It’s the worst accident I’ve ever seen.”

The accident happened off the main road, and rescue workers said they had a difficult time moving the wounded to the ambulances over rough terrain.

“We are getting the wounded out to hospitals as quickly as possible,” said Uri Bar Lev, the southern police commander.

A man identified as Ofer said he was sitting in the front car of the train when the accident happened.

“Suddenly there was a sharp hit and the whole car moved sideways,” he told the radio.