60-year-old killed in fall while hiking in Golan Heights

A 60-year-old man died Friday from injuries sustained when he fell from a cliff while hiking with his son in the Golan Heights.

The man, whose identity was not released to the public, fell while walking near Nahal Sa’ar, a stream with a 4-kilometer (2.4-mile) hiking path, at around 1:30 p.m. The circumstances that led to the fall were not immediately clear.

Witnesses called for help and the Israel Police Volunteer Rescue Unit arrived on the scene, alongside emergency services, to begin a rescue operation.

The rescue operation lasted roughly five hours, the police rescue unit said, and the man was pulled up at around 6:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead shortly after by a doctor from the Israel Defense Forces’ 669 unit, which specializes in rescue and evacuation, and who arrived on the scene in an Israeli Air Force helicopter, according to the police rescue unit.

The complex nature of the terrain extended the rescue operation significantly and required participants to pull the body of the victim and his son to safety using ropes, it added.

Another hiker suffering from dehydration near the El Al Stream was also rescued by the volunteer police unit.

The unit’s statement encouraged Israelis to continue hiking but to do so responsibly and to follow the marked paths.