NETANYA, Israel, 13 June 2006 — At least five people were killed and more than 70 were injured yesterday when a train collided with a truck stuck on the line at a rail junction near the Israeli coastal city of Netanya.
Four carriages, including the driver’s cabin, were forced off the rails by the impact of the collision as the train traveled between the commercial capital Tel Aviv and the main northern port city of Haifa.
Rescuers from the fire service, backed up by soldiers, could be seen using metal cutters to gain access to the handful of passengers who had not been able to make their own way out of the carriages but the vast majority had managed to walk away unscathed.
“Five people were killed and 71 wounded,” local police commander Menashe Arviv told reporters at the scene of the crash. A total of 57 ambulances had rushed to the scene after reports of the crash were first received.
Although medical sources had initially spoken of more than 150 people being wounded, it soon became apparent that the vast majority were suffering either from shock or minor injuries.
A spokesman for Magen David Adom ambulance service told AFP that the rescue services were able to react rapidly as they were already on a state of readiness over fears of a possible attack by militants wanting to avenge the recent deaths of eight civilians on the Gaza Strip seafront.
