Benayahu Shukrun funeral
Benayahu Shukrun funeralBeit El Local Council

Dozens of people participated on Monday evening in the funeral of five-year-old Benayahu Shukrun of Beit El, who was killed earlier in the day when he was struck by a shuttle bus.

Benayahu’s mother, Natali, was in the hospital at the time of the accident due to the fact that she had given birth to a son just two days ago. She was permitted to leave the hospital for a few hours to attend the funeral.

Benayahu’s father, Maoz, eulogized his son and said with great pain, "G-d gave and G-d took away. G-d gave us a son on the first day [of the month of Iyyar] and on the second day took another son from us. We have nothing to say in these situations. May G-d cover all our problems with this blood that was spilled today and may we soon welcome Mashiach.”

Rabbi Zalman Melamed, the chief rabbi of the town of Beit El, eulogized Benayahu as well and said, "We are bringing to rest today a pure soul who did not know sin... We must learn [from this] and be careful on the roads. Each driver must drive carefully and judiciously. There is no reason to rush and endanger lives. Children are playing in the streets and we must learn from that. We will be strengthened from this pain.”

Police are, meanwhile, still investigating the cause of Monday’s accident. An initial investigation found that the boy, who was riding a scooter, veered onto the street and the bus driver did not notice him.

Magen David Adom paramedic Uri Tzahi described the scene: "When we arrived, we saw a bus at the center of the road and on the road lay a boy of about 5. Next to him was a dismantled scooter."

"The child was unconscious with no pulse, he wasn't breathing, and was suffering from trauma. In only a short amount of time, we had to confirm his death, with the help of an IDF medical examiner who arrived on the scene."