Seven Palestinians killed in West Bank truck, car collision

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared a day of mourning after seven Palestinians died in a traffic accident on Thursday in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media said.

"President Mahmud Abbas declared today that a day of mourning will be observed on Friday across Palestine in honour of seven Palestinian workers who died in a tragic car accident," the official Wafa news agency said.

The accident occurred between a truck and a vehicle carrying the workers on a highway under Israeli security control near the village of Fasayil, according to Wafa.

Israeli police said in a statement that following the accident, Israeli rescue workers "determined the deaths of seven ... and three seriously injured were evacuated by military helicopter to the hospital."

The identities of the victims were not immediately known.

Palestinian police told AFP that they were workers from the town of Aqraba, near Nablus, and their bodies arrived at Jericho hospitals.

Agence France-Presse