Mother-of-two killed alongside her father as sports car crashed into family leaving restaurant
Man arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following incident in Ramsgate, Kent
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A mother was killed alongside her father when a sports car crashed into the family as they left a restaurant.
Cambridge physicist Noga Sella, 40, was one of two victims of the fatal crash iin Ramsgate, Kent, on Wednesday night in Ramsgate. An Alfa Romeo hit the family-of-five near a car park just after 9.30pm.
Her father Yoram Hirshfeld, 78, died while her six year-old daughter suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital. Ms Sella’s husband Omer Sella and their eight-year-old son both suffered minor injuries.
The Independent understands that Mr Hirshfeld was visiting the family from Rosh Pinna in north Israel and they were visiting the Kent area on a trip.
According to Israeli rescue unit ZAKA International, which released a statement on the incident, the family were leaving a restaurant when the devastating crash occurred.
Noga and Omer Sella lived in Milton with their two children.
Ms Sella was a consultant physicist at the Cambridge Design Partnership, which works with companies to develop innovative products. She studied physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before moving to the UK.
Marc-Pierre Campos, 56, who owns a restaurant near the crash site, said: “There was a big loud bang and a crash and then customers and my staff went rushing down and started shouting for someone to call the emergency services. The fire brigade was needed to pull the car off the woman.”
Mr Campos, who held the daughter’s arm while paramedics treated her and her mother, said that the image of the crash would “stay with me for the rest of my life”.
Eyewitness Amanda King told Kent Live: “It just looked like something had just come out of nowhere and just this devastation was there. It did take quite a long time for any of the rescue services to get there. And that was really worrying as well.”
Pictures from the scene show a police cordon in place on Wednesday night as officers investigated.
The driver, a 30-year-old man from Ramsgate, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and treated in hospital for minor injuries.
Amnon Eden paid tribute to Mr Hirshfield, a former maths professor at Tel Aviv University, describing him as “generous to a fault.”
“I met Yoram Hirshfeld for the first time about 25 years ago when he substituted my first year algebra lecturer. For the first time ever, the lecture immediately ‘made sense’. Perhaps the best example ever for the difference that a great teacher can make.
“Yoram was my master's co-supervisor and later my PhD co-supervisor in Tel Aviv University. The more I got to know him, the more influential as a role model he was: Generous to a fault, kind in a world that is not, and funny in a way that made him loved by everyone.
“Thank you Yoram for being [a] role model: as a parent, as a mathematician, as a good person. So sorry to see you're gone in such tragic and unnecessary manner.”
Raushan Ara, the mayor of Ramsgate, said: “My thoughts are with the friends and family of those who lost their lives and those injured in the tragic incident.
“On behalf of the people of Ramsgate I send our sincere condolences to the family who have lost a mother and grandfather. This is an extremely sad and tragic accident which has shocked the local community.”
Kent Police has now urged anyone who might have witnessed the incident to come forward.
The Israeli foreign ministry said it received a report about the incident and the consular is supporting the family.