Bus Driver Killed, Dozens Injured in Negev Collision with Tractor

Emergency medical services and fire rescue teams from the Netivot station rushed to the scene, where they found the front of the bus heavily damaged. Firefighters used hydraulic tools to extricate several passengers who were trapped inside the wreckage. The bus driver, a man of approximately 50 years old, was found trapped and unresponsive with severe injuries, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Among the injured passengers, a 61-year-old woman was hospitalized in serious condition with multi-system injuries, and a 35-year-old woman was in moderate condition with limb injuries. According to Davar, a second woman was also hospitalized in serious condition. Twenty-two other passengers sustained minor injuries in the crash.

Emergency services evacuated the injured to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva and Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Following the collision, Southern District Police officers closed Highway 25 to westbound traffic and launched an investigation into the circumstances of the crash.