70-year-old man falls to his death while hiking near Dead Sea

Accident comes only months after a 21-year-old died in a fall from a 30-meter cliff in the Judean Desert

By ToI Staff 2 January 2020, 9:20 pm

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Rescue workers retrieve the body of a 70-year old hiker who died after falling off a cliff at a nature reserve near the Dead Sea on Thursday. (Screenshot)

A 70-year-old man died on Thursday after getting separated from his tour group and falling off a cliff in a nature reserve in the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea.

The man, who was not immediately identified in reports, was found after a two-hour search conducted by police and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and was recovered by the IDF’s search and rescue unit 669.

He was declared dead at the scene.

In October, a 21-year-old from Jerusalem died after falling from a 30-meter (100-foot) cliff in the Judean Desert. Yerachmiel Yeshayahu had been hiking near the Samar wadi near Mitzpe Shalem, in the northern Dead Sea region.

Last April, ten high school students were killed after they were swept away in torrential floods during a hike in Nahal Tzafit, a riverbed in the southern Dead Sea area.