Female soldier run over by 4 vehicles

Driver comes forward to tell police she 'may have hit something'; police do not think she was first to strike soldier.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
crime scene (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
crime scene
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [illustrative])
A 19-year-old female soldier was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Route 66 near Yokne’am on Friday before being run over by three additional vehicles while lying on the road, police said.
A woman who drove through the area at the time of the accident told police early on Saturday that she “may have hit something” as she traveled along the road. Traffic police investigators do not think she was the first to hit the pedestrian.
“Four vehicles hit the deceased,” a police spokesman said. “We appeal to all drivers who were in the area and saw vehicles that struck the soldier to get in touch with us at their local police station,” the spokesman added.
According to police, the first hit and run driver struck the woman as she walked out of a nearby gas station.
The driver fled the scene without stopping for assistance. Police said a search for the suspect is underway.
Three more vehicles struck the soldier as she lay on the road afterward, police suspect.
A newspaper-delivery man noticed the soldier lying on the ground, and ran to the gas station to call for assistance.
At that point, police said, a vehicle whose driver noticed the soldier lying on the ground attempted to swerve to avoid hitting her, and crashed into a ditch, lightly injuring the driver and passenger.
Magen David Adom paramedics arrived on the scene and pronounced her dead.
The soldier’s family identified the body based on photographs from the accident scene.
“The chances that we will get to the [hit-and-run driver] are very high, and it’s in his interest to turn himself in and provide his account,” said Dep.-Cmdr. Yossi Hatukai, a Traffic Police officer in the police’s northern district, according to Army Radio.
Earlier on Friday, one person was killed and two were lightly injured in a car accident near the Damon prison in the Carmel region of northern Israel.