West Bank cab driver dies after passenger stabs him after tiff

Ramallah: A 27-year-old taxi driver, Muhannad Sharif Makhoul, died after his passenger stabbed him after an argument in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.

Witnesses told Gulf News that the killer was the first passenger of the taxi driver. However, as he was alone, the taxi driver was waiting for more passengers. When a group of seven women teachers arrived at the taxi stand, the victim asked his sole passenger to take another vehicle so he could drive the women instead.

The passenger from the village of Ateel near Tulkarem refused to budge. An argument ensued between the two and the passenger offered to travel with the group of women but the driver refused, claiming that his vehicle would then be overloaded and the traffic police would fine him.

Witnesses said that the killer lost his temper, grabbed a knife from his pocket and stabbed the driver several times before fleeing the scene.

Drivers at the taxi stand reported the crime to the police who chased the passenger. The passenger’s family later handed him to the police, publicly announcing that they were disowning him to avoid revenge attacks by the victim’s family.

The victim was admitted to the ICU of Tulkarem Public Hospital where the doctors said his condition was critical. Within a few hours he succumbed to his wounds.

On Sunday, the victim’s body was handed to his family for burial.