Teenager Dies After Being Hit by Car While Fleeing Pursuer

Ariel Sofer, a 13-year-old boy from Kiryat Ata, was killed Tuesday night after being struck by a vehicle on the Acre-Haifa highway at the Tzabar junction in the Krayot area. Ariel was in the eighth grade at Rogozin Alef school. His mother, Chofit, told Ynet that friends reported Ariel was with a group of friends when another teenager began chasing him. Fearing the pursuer, Ariel ran into the road and was fatally hit by a car.

"It's incomprehensible what happened to him. He went out to hang out with friends," his mother stated. "They were out in Krayon in Kiryat Bialik, and he got off the Metronit [light rail] with friends at the junction." She added that the injuries were severe and he later died. She understands an investigation is underway, emphasizing that Ariel had no intention of running into the road but was trying to escape his pursuer. She described Ariel as a "smiling, kind boy, a charming teenager who always helped others." He enjoyed martial arts and had celebrated his bar mitzvah just six months prior.

Magen David Adom (MDA) received the report of Ariel's injury at 11:10 PM. Paramedics performed resuscitation efforts on the boy, who sustained multiple systemic injuries. He was transported by MDA intensive care unit to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where medical teams pronounced him dead. An MDA paramedic described finding the boy unconscious on the road, without a pulse or breathing, and stated that resuscitation efforts were ongoing during the transport to the hospital.