An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Merkava tank flipped over and landed upside down in a Sunday afternoon accident in eastern Israel’s Jordan Valley. The accident occurred as the tank was being loaded on to a tractor-trailer for transport and the flip over was caught on video.
Early in the video, the tank appeared to struggle to get up the ramp of the transport truck. Once the tank mounted the ramp, the driver appears not to be able to slow the tank from shooting forward and it collided with the front of the trailer before turning over.
In the video, a videographer filming from the ground shouts as the tank collides with the front of the trailer and can be seen running away before the tank falls off the trailer and lands on its top. As the tank turns over, smoke can be seen spewing from the tank’s side.
At the end of the video, several soldiers can be seen climbing onto the overturned tank, and attempting to open a hatch built into the back of the vehicle.
The accident was caught on video from a second angle. A Twitter user posted the second video angle, who in a translated tweet said, “Take another angle.”
קח זווית נוספת pic.twitter.com/IfkH8idhtC
— Chayel Grunwald (@ChayelGrunwald) November 22, 2020
Israel National News reported the 24-year-old driver of the tank suffered minor injuries during the accident and was evacuated to the nearby Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center in Jerusalem, but was expected to be released later that day.
Military police reportedly cordoned off the area, shutting down traffic for other tanks and armored personnel carriers.
“The circumstances of the incident are being investigated at this time,” the IDF said in a statement provided to the Jewish Press. “The division commander instructed to stop the movement of the combat vehicles that were protected in the division until the results of the initial investigation.”
