Two young Israelis were killed in a car crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, just ahead of the border with Israel. Five others were injured.
Israeli media reported that those dead and injured were young staff at a Jerusalem boarding school who were returning from a holiday at the beach.
The taxi van in which they were travelling smashed into a second vehicle 20 minutes from the border with Israel, according to the Times of Israel.
The victims have been named as Yuval Keshet, 24, from Haifa, and Moshe Matan Luzon, 25, from Petah Tikva.
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Moshe Matan Luzon (L) and Yuval Keshet (R)
A message from Boyer Boarding School to parents and students spoke of “a terrible tragedy. We’ve lost our loved ones.”
The five who were injured were taken to a medical centre near the border before being transported to Yoseftal Medical Centre in Eilat.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) had attempted to send helicopters to repatriate the injured to Israeli hospitals, but the media reported that they were not allowed to land in Egypt, which delayed their return by several hours.
موقع "سروجيم" العبري: إصابة سبعة "إسرائيليين" من بينهم اثنين بحالة حرجة جراء حادث طرق في سيناء. pic.twitter.com/HA7fNIUr4q
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) July 28, 2022
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Egyptian authorities initially gave the helicopters permission to land, before reversing the decision. The injured were taken to a border crossing and handed over to Israeli authorities instead.
Kan news agency spoke to the father of one of the injured Israelis, whose daughter blamed the driver for the crash saying: “The driver was travelling at a crazy speed, overtook [another vehicle], and crashed into an oncoming car.”
He expressed his relief at his daughter’s survival: “I was given my daughter as a gift.”
