Police from the Shfela subdistrict launched a manhunt Friday night for an
all-terrain- vehicle driver who they suspect intentionally hit two teenage
joggers on a dirt road near Kibbutz Brenner.
According to Shfela region
police spokeswoman Ch.- Supt. Leah Zohar, a group of around 15 runners was on a
training run in an open area near the kibbutz when an ATV driver blazed past
them at a high speed, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt.
Zohar said the
runners signaled him to slow down, at which point the driver turned his vehicle
around and drove back, crashing into two young women before tearing
off.
Police are calling for the driver to turn himself in as soon as
possible, and have stepped up efforts to locate him, Zohar said.
The
accident left 19-yearold Radat Baltah, one of the country’s most promising young
runners, hospitalized in satisfactory to good condition at Rehovot’s Kaplan
Medical Center, along with training partner Tigaset Bitau, 15, who was in
serious condition on Friday night.
Baltah was expected to be released
from Kaplan on Saturday night, while Bitau’s condition has also improved, to
satisfactory,.
The runners were being trained by Israeli long-distance
runner Wudge Zebediyah, who said on Saturday night that Baltah had set her
sights on making it to the 2012 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, and that he
had not been told by hospital staff whether she would be able to have a running
career following the accident.