One person was seriously injured, two moderately and five lightly this afternoon when a minibus-type van turned over near Tishbi Junction on Route 70 in the north of the country.
A MDA team gave them medical treatment on site and evacuated them to Rambam and Bnei Zion hospitals in Haifa. The police opened an investigation into the accident.
Following the accident, Highway 722 was blocked for southbound vehicular traffic. Traffic police ordered drivers to alternate routes and asked motorists to obey police instructions.
MDA paramedic Leviv Wahabi said, "This was a serious accident; the commercial vehicle was upside down on the side of the traffic island, and two severely damaged cars were nearby. In one of the vehicles was a man of about 50, unconscious, suffering from severe systemic damage. We gave him life-saving medical care that included sedation and artificial respiration and evacuated him in critical but stable condition to Rambam Hospital.
"A 45-year-old man who was moderately injured was walking around the scene with a bleeding wound. We gave him treatment that included bandaging and stopping the bleeding, and he was evacuated to the hospital in an MDA ambulance. Seven others were lightly and moderately injured, including two men trapped in the commercial vehicle who were rescued with the help of the firefighters, who were also evacuated after medical tests on scene to the hospital," Wahabi added.