Archaeologist killed in landslide at West Bank dig

A 50-year-old archaeologist died Thursday after being crushed under a landslide in a cave at a site where he was working near the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron.

Paramedics were called to the scene to perform emergency CPR, but were unable to keep him alive.

The man, described by news site NRG as a senior archaeologist, was not immediately named by officials.

Yaniv Sha’ar, one of the paramedics at the scene, told the news site Israel National News that upon arriving at the scene they saw “a man trapped under rocks that rolled down the mountain.”

“People nearby managed to release him from some of the rubble and began to perform CPR on him,” Sha’ar continued, “and with the assistance of a military medical team we attempted to perform advanced resuscitation procedures with his lower body still trapped, but unfortunately his injuries were very severe and we pronounced his death in the field.”

Army Radio reported that archaeological work was being conducted at the time of the incident.

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