Death Ride in Minibus: Two Teens Killed in Accident – Indictment Reveals the Failures

The State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against minibus driver Adi Ashkir for negligent manslaughter of two teenagers in an accident at the Sorek junction about five months ago. According to the indictment, he drove without mandatory insurance, failed to notice a truck, and collided with it.

The State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Adi Ashkir, 25, from Tira, for negligent manslaughter of two minors in a fatal road accident at the Sorek junction about five months ago. The accident killed Shira Mazal Naim, a 10th-grade student aged 16 from Sde Uziyahu, and Aharon Peretz, a 12th-grade student from Ashdod. According to the indictment, on May 21 of this year, at midnight, Ashkir drove a private minibus on Highway 7 from Jerusalem to Ashdod, without a mandatory insurance policy, carrying nine passengers, most of them minors. At the Sorek junction, a truck driver with a trailer began merging into the right lane with turn signals on, but Ashkir, despite a wide field of vision, did not notice the truck, failed to maintain distance, and collided forcefully with the trailer. Two of the minors were critically injured and died at the scene. Other minors were injured in varying degrees. The indictment charges Ashkir with negligent manslaughter, reckless driving, and driving without mandatory insurance. The prosecution is seeking to revoke his license until the end of proceedings.