A 12-year-old boy at Menorah Grammar School in Edgware has been killed in a car crash on a Belgian motorway just days before he was due to celebrate his bar mitzvah with his twin brother.
The tragic accident occurred on the E40 in Veurne (West Flanders) on Thursday morning at around 1am and left the vehicle overturned on its roof.
The boy’s parents and his three siblings all sustained injuries as a result of the crash, but local reports suggest these are not life threatening.
The family were reportedly returning from a simchah in Antwerp last night when the accident occurred, with poor weather conditions blamed for the accident.
Volunteers from ZAKA’s International Unit -a voluntary post-disaster response team- confirmed they had responded to the accident.
Haim Weingarten, ZAKA’s Deputy Director of Operations, said: “This is a devastating and painful event.
“Just last month, the boy who was killed celebrated his first tefillin ceremony here in Israel, and was due to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah with his twin brother in the coming days.”
An email sent around to Menorah parents confirmed the tragic accident and offered advice on how to break the news to pupils.
It confirmed that a Year 3 girl and her parents were “safe” after being involved in the accident, but that the girl’s brother had been killed.
The letter added:”If you decide to tell your child then it is very important when talking to your child to be calm, direct and clear and to say that her brother has died.
“This is a very important part of helping your child to process the information and helps them come to terms with it. It is quite normal for children to show strong emotions of anger, upset and tears. You must reassure them that these feelings are normal. Please stress to your child that it is very rare for children to die in a car accident.
“Should further support be required we are in touch with the Crisis Trauma Team who are ready and available to step in, but as they told us, support is best given by teachers whom the children know and trust.”
