19-Year-Old Struck and Killed by Jerusalem Light Rail

By COLlive staff

19-year-old Tamar Fenigstein was killed by the Jerusalem light rail train overnight Tuesday-Wednesday.

The train struck the woman, trapping her underneath it, shortly after midnight on Jaffa Road, near the city’s Central Bus Station.

She was pronounced dead at the scene by MDA paramedics.

Fenigstein was the daughter of the director of the pre-army preparatory yeshiva in Givat Shmuel.

A resident of the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, she was a volunteer in Israel’s civilian National Service, an alternative to military service in the IDF.

Fenigstein had recently begun working at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

“Tamar began her service three months ago at the Shaare Zedek hospital, and with her wonderful smile and cheerfulness which characterized her, she brought light to the place,” said Yaron Lutz, CEO of the Israel Volunteer Association (IVA).

“During that short time, Tamar managed to stand out and to contribute so much, and we are all horrified by the terrible accident which killed her last night.”

A witness at the scene said that shortly after midnight on Tuesday night, Tamar ran to catch the train, which was the last one for the night, and apparently fell between two cars of the oncoming train. Tamar’s friend, Achinoam, who was at the scene of the accident when it occurred told Radio 103FM that Tamar suffered from epilepsy but hadn’t had attacks in years. However, Achinoam added: “Right when she got to the station she began to swirl around. I thought she was dancing because there was music playing nearby. She simply began twirling around in a strange way. Her eyes began to move from side to side and her head was jerking and I realized something was going on.”

“At first, I said to her, ‘Are you playing a trick on me?’” Achinoam continued. “And then I saw that she wasn’t okay. I tried to catch her and she simply slipped from my hand, like she was already falling. I tried to catch her so she wouldn’t fall and she simply fell underneath the train. My friends said that I even tried to pull her out but I didn’t succeed.”

The passengers on the train, who didn’t see what happened, but heard a thump and screaming cried out to the driver to continue driving because they thought it was a terrorist attack.

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