Car crash (illustration)
Car crash (illustration)Flash 90

Two Arab Israeli medical students died on Saturday in a car crash in Piatra Neamt, a city in eastern Romania. The precise circumstances of the crash remain unclear.

The two were identified as Tufik Ahmad al-Karinawi, a 20-year-old from Rahat, and Diya Zabeida, a 23-year-old from Lod. Both students were living in Iasi in Romania, where they were studying.

The Israeli consulate in Bucharest is in contact with their families and the relevant authorities, and is working to bring their bodies back to Israel for burial.

"This is a hard blow for the family," Sufiyan al-Karinawi, Tufik's cousin, told Walla on Saturday.

"His nephews were killed in a fire in Rahat several months ago. His brother drowned in a pool in Eilat four months ago. Now this happens, it's simply a disaster, a heavy disaster."

Ahmad Zabeida, Diya's uncle, also spoke to the news site about his nephew who was in his fifth year of medical studies.

"His dream was to study medicine, to finish and come back to Israel to contribute to society, and then the car crash happened. We still don't know the exact details."

Zabeida added that "we have a lot of friends there and they told us (about the crash). Our children also study there. For us this is great sorrow and mourning. That's fate."