A young IDF soldier was injured in a frightening incident in Tiveriah after becoming trapped inside the luggage compartment of an Egged bus when the driver unknowingly drove away with her partially inside the compartment. She was rescued only after bystanders noticed what had happened and stopped the bus before she suffered even more serious injuries.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with HaOlam HaBoker, the soldier described the terrifying moments she endured and said she feared she would lose her leg if the bus continued moving.
The incident occurred after the soldier arrived in Tiveriah on a bus from Hatzor. She asked the driver to open the luggage compartment so she could retrieve her bag, but while she was leaning inside to remove it, the compartment door suddenly closed on her leg, trapping her as the bus pulled away.
“On Thursday I left my base and boarded the bus from Hatzor to Tiveriah. When I got off at the stop, I asked the driver if he could open the luggage compartment, and I saw that my bag was inside. I leaned halfway into the compartment to take out my bag, and he lowered the luggage compartment door.”
She said she immediately realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“When I realized he was closing the luggage compartment, I tried to push it away with my leg, but my leg got stuck. I was sure he had noticed and would stop, but suddenly I realized he was continuing to drive while half of my body was inside and my leg was trapped outside. I realized that if he kept driving, I would lose my leg.”
As the bus continued moving, the soldier called police in an effort to have officers locate and stop the vehicle. At the same time, she repeatedly pounded on the luggage compartment, hoping passengers would hear her and alert the driver.
“I was completely helpless. I watched as my leg started rubbing against the road while the bus was moving,” she recalled.
The bus finally came to a stop after passersby spotted the trapped soldier and alerted the driver. Another soldier at the scene forced open the luggage compartment and freed her.
“I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t breathe. If he had driven another two or three minutes until the central bus station, I truly don’t even want to imagine what would have happened to me.”
The soldier was taken to a hospital for treatment of the injuries she sustained.
In a statement, Egged said: “Egged regrets the incident. An internal review indicates that the driver did not notice the soldier entering the luggage compartment and believed she had already exited the bus and walked away. As soon as he realized what had happened, the driver stopped the bus, rescued her, and asked whether she required medical treatment. Egged wishes her a speedy recovery.”
