The scene of yesterday's fatal train crash near Netanya. Police are investigating whether the driver who got stuck on the tracks was under the influence of drugs. (Nir Kafri)
Five people were killed and 77 injured yesterday when a Tel Aviv-Haifa passenger train collided with a pickup truck near Beit Yehoshua, south of Netanya.
The 45-year old driver of the pickup truck, which was stuck on the tracks, was arrested for causing death by negligence. Police are also investigating if the Hadera resident was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident. The man claimed that, as a veterinary surgeon, he carries syringes as part of his work.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the truck was stuck on the tracks as a result of a minor car accident shortly before the train collision. The truck was traveling from Netanya to Drorim Junction when it sideswiped an oncoming car on a sharp curve a few dozen meters from the tracks. As a result, the truck was bumped onto the tracks, where it got stuck partially as a result of a flat tire.
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A passerby concerned about the possibility of an oncoming train immediately called Israel Railways' emergency hotline. However, the 300-ton passenger train, traveling 140 kilometers per hour, was too close to the site for the crash to be prevented, Israel Railways said.
The police also are investigating the possibility that the pickup truck driver was involved in another accident shortly before the train wreck. A driver involved in an accident at a parking garage at Poleg Junction reported that the driver of a pickup truck who hit his car fled the scene without providing details.
After the train collided with the pickup truck, it dragged the vehicle an additional 150 meters, where the engine and three cars flipped one on top of the other.
The pickup driver escaped from his car before the crash and was unharmed.
Rescue forces at the scene extracted the dead and injured from the train cars, in a four-hour operation. Some of the injured were evacuated by Israel Defense Forces helicopters to hospitals in the Sharon area and the country's center.
Less than two hours before the accident, at 10 A.M., an Israel Railways lookout left the crash site due to light train activity at that time of day, Israel Railways said. The site is one of the Railways' most active areas, with 300 trains passing through the area on a daily basis.
The passenger train left Tel Aviv for Haifa at 11:44 A.M., and the collision occurred at 12:05 P.M.
A similar accident occurred one year ago when a passenger train hit a truck stuck on the tracks near Kibbutz Revadim in southern Israel.
However, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi, who visited the accident scene, said unlike last year's accident, yesterday's collision took place at a natural meeting place of trains and vehicles that has existed for decades.
The police have set up a special investigative team to probe the circumstances of yesterday's collision. Transportation Ministry and Israel Railways investigations are also under way.
About 70 ambulances from throughout central Israel were called to the accident scene yesterday and evacuated the injured to area hospitals.
The director of Magen David Adom, Eli Bein, said yesterday that many ambulances had trouble reaching the scene due to the complexity of the terrain - a riverbed surrounded by eucalyptus tree. Bein said most of the injured suffered from bruises and possible bone fractures. Bein added that the high alert declared this week over concerns of a terror attack enabled the rapid arrival of rescue forces.
The rescue operation focused on the second car of the train, where most of those killed had been traveling. Due to fears that the cars might ignite, rescue personnel avoided sawing heavy metal, which would have caused sparks. Rescue personnel also were worried that one coach, which had tilted on its side, might collapse.
After the injured were freed from the wreckage, bulldozers paved a special road to the site, and two large cranes were brought in.
As of last night, 18 people were still hospitalized at: Hillel Yaffeh Medical Center, Hadera, Laniado Hospital, Netanya, Meir Hospital, Kfar Sava, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, and Beilinson Hospital, Petah Tikva. Four of those hospitalized were in moderate condition, including a woman who had been in critical condition upon arrival at Beilinson shortly after the accident. The rest of those hospitalized were lightly injured.
Mordechai Sheffler, 68, of Kiryat Haim, was treated at Laniado for injuries sustained in the crash. He said he was facing away from the direction of the train at the time of the crash. "First I felt a slight slowing of the train, and then a sharp blow to the back of my head," said Sheffler, who unsuccessfully tried to climb out of his upside down coach. "The passengers were yelling, and everyone was trying to get themselves out."
Sheffler said he had trouble moving from his spot, because "people panicked, and climbed over each other."
Israel Railways CEO Ofer Linczewski said yesterday that the solution for sites like those at yesterday's collision is the construction of bridges that will completely separate train and vehicle traffic. Linczewski said the railroad has placed lookouts at 24 such sites at peak hours.
Israel Railways' preliminary investigation revealed that the crossing gates and lights at the site were functioning properly at the time of the accident. Trains in that area are permitted to travel at 140 kph, and the team found that the train engineer indeed was traveling at that speed.
Aluf Benn adds from London: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on a visit to the United Kingdom, spoke by telephone yesterday with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Karadi about the train wreck. Olmert declined to comment on the incident, saying it was important to wait for the results of the investigation.
"This is a regrettable accident," he said. "Israel has a serious traffic accident problem, which is related to our behavior on the roads."
Olmert said that in recent budget talks, he insisted on adding hundreds of millions of shekels to the National Authority for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents budget.
Relly Sa'ar and Ran Reznick contributed to this report.
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