A terrible tragedy occurred in Modiin Illit on Thursday, Shiva Asar B’Tammuz, when a 7-year-old boy was struck and killed by a bus at an intersection.

Witnesses said the boy was crossing at a crosswalk when he was struck. Medical teams that arrived at the scene performed CPR, but he was Niftar a few minutes later at the scene.

The bus driver has been detained by police.

The child was later identified as Moishe Galinsky, z’l, a third-grade student at Breslov Talmud Torah, the great-grandson of the renowned maggid, HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky z’tl.

Bystanders told Kikar HaShabbat: “The child was crossing at a crosswalk. The driver apparently, like many drivers here in the city, was traveling at high speed, and that’s why this tragedy occurred. We don’t know who is at fault—the police are investigating—but what is clear is that the phenomenon of reckless driving by bus drivers in the city must come to an end.”

Kikar added that the accident occurred at a major intersection in the Brachfeld neighborhood, an area that has major vehicle and public transportation traffic throughout the day. The intersection serves as a main thoroughfare for neighborhood residents and is used by many buses.

Hatzalah paramedics Eliezer Hess, David Cohen, and Ido Ashraf said: “This is a difficult scene—a child was struck by a bus. Sadly, his death was pronounced at the scene. United Hatzalah’s trauma response teams were deployed to the scene due to the nature of the incident.”

Israel Police said: “Israel Police have begun investigating the circumstances of a serious traffic accident that occurred a short while ago in the city of Modi’in Illit involving a bus and a pedestrian. As a result of the accident, a child pedestrian was critically injured (according to medical officials). Officers from the Modi’in Illit police station are at the scene, and traffic accident investigators from the Judea and Samaria District have begun investigating the circumstances.”

 

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)