Five children left orphaned; new immigrants, tourists from Iran killed.
By REBECCA A STOIL
A citizen of Lod was arrested Sunday morning under suspicion that he was responsible for a collision early Sunday in which four people were killed, three were injured, and five children were left orphaned.
The suspect, a 25-year-old resident of Lod, had eighteen previous traffic infractions. Only three days before the collision, his license was suspended for driving at excessive speed. He is suspected of driving at the time of the collision while under the influence of alcohol and of running a red light, which was believed to be the direct cause of the deadly incident.
In the vehicle that was struck by the suspect were a couple, new immigrants from Iran, a couple visiting them from Iran, and the sister of the tourists, who lives in Rehovot. Both members of the immigrant couple were killed and left behind three orphaned children, aged two, four, and six years old. One of the tourists was also killed, and the second was hospitalized at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, as was the Rehovot resident, who remained listed in moderate to serious condition.
A woman - a mother of two from Jaffa - was riding in the passenger seat of the suspect's car and was also killed in the collision, which occurred on the exit ramp from Highway 1.
The suspect suffered minor injuries.
The damage from the collision was so great that fire fighters arriving on the scene were forced to disassemble one of the vehicles in order to gain access to the victims.
Three of the four were declared dead on the scene and the fourth fatality died on the way to the hospital.