עמית והלל נהרגו בתאונה הקטלנית

The victims killed in Friday morning’s fatal car accident east of Jerusalem have been identified as two Israeli teens from Gush Etzion, south of the capital.

The victims are Amit Barlev and Hillel Lalum, both 17-years-old, were residents of the town of Elazar, in Gush Etzion.

Funerals for the two victims are set for 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Kfar Etzion cemetery in Gush Etzion.

"Hillel Lalum, Ben Liav and Nataly, the brother of Eli, Ora, Yoel, and Yishai, was about to celebrate his 18th birthday this week," the town of Elazar said in a statement Friday afternoon.

"He was going to study at the yeshiva in Bruchin. He was a great light for his family."

Barlev was also about to reach his 18th birthday, the town noted.

"Amit Barlev, a young man so full of light. He was going to celebrate his 18th birthday in a few days. He was a young man who loved his people, his country, and its land."

Barlev and Lalum were killed in an early-morning accident on Route 1, which leads from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, on a segment of the road near the Israeli town of Mitzpeh Yericho.

A third victim, also 18 years old, was seriously injured in the accident and was evacuated by MDA emergency first responders to Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The accident occurred before dawn Friday morning, when the car carrying the three young men flipped over, for reasons which remain unclear.

“This was a very serious accident,” said MDA paramedic Nissan Hafetz and MDA first-responder Aviv Biton. “When we got there, we saw a crushed car which had been flipped over and was sitting upside down. There were three young people in their 20s traveling in the car. One of them was crushed by the car, while the other two were trapped inside.”

“We did an initial assessment and found that the young man who had been crushed by the car, as well as one of the two who had been trapped inside, were unconscious, had no heartbeat and were not breathing and had suffered severe injuries to multiple organs.”

“After our medical examinations, we were forced to declare them dead at the scene. The third young man was conscious, and after extensive efforts by rescue teams to free him, we provided him with life-saving medical treatment. He was suffering from injuries to multiple organs, and we evacuated him to the hospital while continuing to treat him. He was fully conscious and in serious condition.”