Anat Rosenberg
Anat RosenbergCourtesy of the family

Twelve-year-old Anat Rosenberg and her mother Irena Dubinsky, both of Kiryat Yam, were identified as the victims of a Saturday road accident.

The accident, which involved a private car and a commercial vehicle, occurred on Route 6 near Ben Shemen Interchange in central Israel.

Rosenberg was a middle school student at the Rodman school, and Alyssa, her seven-year-old sister who was injured in the accident, studies at the Orim elementary school.

The Kiryat Yam municipality and the Education Ministry's Haifa District branch will open the school Sunday, despite the holiday, and provide psychologists who will meet with Anat's schoolmates.

Following the accident, medical personnel succeeded in delivering Dubinsky, who was pregnant. The baby was transferred to Tel Hashomer Hospital's Sheba Medical Center for medical treatment. He is currently in critical condition.

Investigations of the crash show that the private vehicle carrying Rosenberg and Dubinsky hit the guardrail near Ben Shemen Interchange. The vehicle, which was driven by the father, bounced back into the street as a result of the collision, and spun around. A commercial vehicle which was also traveling northwards hit the right side of the family's car head-on. It is not yet clear why the father drove towards the side of the road and hit the guardrail.

The father, who was lightly injured in the deadly accident, was transferred to Tel Hashomer after the baby was delivered and the mother declared dead. He later traveled to Petah Tikva's Beilinson Hospital to say goodbye to his eldest daughter, who had also been declared dead.

Alyssa, the 7-year-old, is in light condition and is currently undergoing a CT exam.

The six passengers of the commercial vehicle, including three children, suffered light to moderate injuries.

Professor Amitai Ziv, Deputy Director at Sheba, said that the mother, who was 32 weeks pregnant, "arrived in a state of clinical death. We delivered the baby via Cesarean section, in a state of clinical death. The staff completely resuscitated him and his heartbeat returned and he began breathing, but he is in critical condition. He is being treated in the intensive care unit and we are fighting to save his life. The mother was declared dead after the birth."

Statistics from the Israeli National Road Safety Authority show that 262 people have been killed in road accidents since the beginning of 2019, up from 240 during the same period last year. Among those killed are 50 children and youths under 19 years of age.