Nine Injured in Minibus Rollover Near Shargim, One Critical

Nine people were injured early Tuesday morning when a minibus overturned on its side on Route 353, near the community of Shargim. According to Magen David Adom (MDA), a man in his 30s sustained serious injuries, an 18-year-old suffered moderate injuries, and seven others had minor injuries.

The MDA Jerusalem region dispatch received the report of the accident at 6:03 AM. Medical teams and firefighters from the Beit Shemesh station were dispatched to the scene to rescue the nine passengers trapped inside the vehicle who could not exit on their own. After their extrication, MDA teams provided medical treatment to the injured.

The seriously injured man was sedated and ventilated, while the moderately injured youth, who sustained multi-system trauma, received bandaging and stabilization. All injured were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.

Paramedic Yosef Horwitz described the scene upon arrival, stating that the passengers were outside the minibus and fully conscious. "We began with initial triage," he said. "We provided medical treatment to the seriously injured, including sedation and ventilation, and to the moderately injured youth, bandaging and stabilization."

Paramedic Nati Ben Shimon of the Z Team, along with paramedics Shalom Shisha, Pini Tausig, and Yitzchak Klein, added that they arrived with a large contingent of paramedics and used MDA ambulances. "We saw a minibus overturned on the side of the road with nine passengers nearby, in various states of injury," they reported. They provided initial medical assistance, including stopping bleeding, stabilization, and bandaging for the man in serious condition with severe head trauma, the 18-year-old with facial and upper limb injuries in moderate condition, and the seven others with minor injuries. They were evacuated by intensive care units and MDA ambulances to the trauma room at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.

Fire and Rescue incident commander Zecharya Rafael stated, "Upon our arrival, we identified a minibus that had fallen to the side of the road with nine trapped individuals inside. We acted quickly and professionally to rescue all passengers and transfer them for medical treatment."