Eight Palestinian Teens Killed in West Bank Car Crash

Eight Palestinian teens were killed on Thursday when the van they were in collided head-on with a truck in the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a day of national mourning following the fatal incident.

The victims, all 14-17 years old, are from Aqraba, a village in the Nablus area, according to a Palestinian labor union. They were driving back from work.

Israel's Magen David Adom reported that two other passengers of the van were wounded and taken to the hospital for care, with one of them in critical condition.

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The driver of the truck that collided into the van was arrested by Palestinian police, DPA reported.

Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz sent his condolences to the families of the deceased in a rare Twitter message in Arabic, also thanking Israeli emergency teams.

Road 90, which goes through the entire length of the West Bank, was blocked for traffic, with police, medics and rescue services called to the scene.

A paramedic who arrived at the scene called the sight "shocking." A local Fire and Rescue Service official said that efforts to rescue the trapped passengers "took a long time, due to the nature of the crash."