A truck driver was detained for interrogation by the police after the truck he was driving rammed into a minibus Monday, killing five members of the same family. Police suspect that the driver, Mahmoud Al-Jabour of the Bedouin town of Rahat, fell asleep on the wheel and that he had been speeding.
The family was reportedly driving northward from Eilat to a family celebration. The truck veered away from its lane into oncming traffic and overturned onto the minivan, which caught fire. All five people inside, including a toddler, died.
Al-Jabour, 24, was lightly injured in the accident. He was be brought before a Be'er Sheva Magistrates' Court judge for remand on Monday evening. He claimed Monday that the glove compartment lid had opened as he was driving and hit him on the head, causing him to get confused and veer off track.
The driver's father said that his son had slept well on the night before the accident and had gone to work at 8:00 AM.
The long, monotonous Arava road has been the scene of numerous fatal accidents over the years. Many fatalities have been caused by the lack of a separation barrier between the northward-bound and southward-bound routes. However, the infrastructure authorities' criteria for funding are such that the road does not qualify for construction of a separation barrier, because it has only one lane in each direction and a relatively light traffic load, compared to its length.