Near Disaster on Israel Railways

Israel Railways has ordered an investigation of a near disaster earlier this week when workers had to be hurriedly evacuated as a train on the wrong track bore down on them, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The incident occurred near the Kfar Saba–Nordau station, where rail workers were carrying out infrastructure repairs late on Sunday night. The report was not published until Wednesday, however.

B’chasdei Shamayim, only one injury was reported, that of a worker who hurt his leg in the rush to get out of the way of the oncoming train.

The train hit several gas canisters used for welding, which started to leak gas but did not explode, the report said.

Twenty-five passengers on the train were directed to disembark and they were provided with taxis to complete their journeys.

Israel Railways interim CEO Uri Sharir ordered the establishment of a committee to assess the incident.

“Israel Railways takes this incident seriously, will investigate it thoroughly and draw the necessary conclusions from it,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, it was said that human error was the probable cause. Accordingly, Israel Railways announced that workshops will be held in the coming days across the entire system to review safety rules.