Scene of the accident
Scene of the accidentIsrael Police

Petah Tikva's Rabin Medical Center on Saturday announced the death of Rodrigo Rostasky, who was critically injured last week when a truck rammed into the family's car in southern Israel.

The crash, which occurred near Gedera on Israel's Route 7, killed Rostasky's wife Sophia, 28, and their two-month-old son Itai. The family's 3-year-old daughter, who was lightly injured in the crash, was released from the hospital last Friday and is now at her grandparents' home.

Rostasky, who was in his 40s, was an officer in Israel's Air Force. His organs have been donated.

Rabin's Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev said: "The injured man was brought from Kaplan Medical Center to Beilinson with a critical head injury. During the week, he underwent a number of operations. Over the last few days his situation deteriorated significantly and unfortunately, despite the efforts of the staff in the neurosurgical department, he passed away this morning."

The driver of the truck, Ashkelon resident Yossi Cohen, 32, was placed under house arrest on Sunday. It has not been found that he was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

However, during his interrogation Cohen said that just before the collision occurred his cigarette fell to the floor of his vehicle and he bent down to retrieve it. As he bent over, he lost control of the vehicle, swerving from his lane and directly and forcefully rear-ending the Rostasky family's vehicle.