Egged bus number 101 crashed into a wall inside the Carmel Tunnels roadway, pictured. Photo: WIkimedia Commons.

JNS.org – At least 35 passengers were hurt in a major vehicular accident in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Thursday, in which Egged bus number 101 crashed into a wall inside the Carmel Tunnels roadway.

Magen David Adom paramedics and other first responders who arrived on scene reported various degrees of injuries. At least one woman is in very serious condition, and six other people are in serious condition. At least 27 people were evacuated to hospitals in the area.

“When I arrived at the scene I was confronted by a difficult crash scene with the involvement of a bus that crashed into a wall and a truck,” said Naftali Rotenberg, director of the Carmel branches of the United Hatzalah organization, Israel National News reported.

“Together with other volunteers from United Hatzalah’s motorcycle unit we gave initial medical treatment to more than 20 wounded in serious, moderate and light condition. Some of the wounded were trapped in the bus that crashed into the wall of the tunnel, and they were rescued by the firefighting teams,” he said.

The Carmel Tunnels were built to reduce road congestion in Haifa. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper cited statistics by the NGO Green Light showing that buses, which make up only 0.5 percent of all vehicles on Israeli roads, are involved in 4.5 percent of serious road accidents in the Jewish state.