Rescue forces near the scene where 10 young Israelis were swept to their deaths in flash floods in the Tzafit riverbed, near the Dead Sea in southern Israel, on April 26, 2018. (Maor Kinsbursky/Flash90)
Police said Thursday that search and rescue teams looking for a man missing since last week’s deadly flash floods have located a body close to the Neot Hakikar moshav in the northern Arava desert.
The family of truck driver Ayman Jaber, 47, a father of four from Tayibe, has been notified of the discovery.
The eight-day search by police, canine units and military trackers was hampered by landmines in the area and floodwater remaining after the Dead Sea region was battered by unseasonable rains and floods at the end of last week.
Last Thursday 10 Israeli students were killed by flash floods during a hike south of the Dead Sea which went ahead despite warnings of life-threatening weather conditions. Nine young women and one young man were killed on a trip organized by the Bnei Zion pre-military academy when the group was hit by a deluge in the Tzafit riverbed.
A composite photo of the 10 victims of a flash flood in southern Israel on April 27, 2018. Top row, left to right: Romi Cohen, Ilan Bar Shalom, Shani Shamir, Adi Raanan, Agam Levy. Bottom row, left to right: Yael Sadan, Maayan Barhum, Tzur Alfi, Gali Balali, Ella Or. (Courtesy/Facebook)
On Monday, academy head Yuval Kahan and instructor Aviv Bardichev were released to house arrest for five days, following their arrest on Friday on suspicion of causing death by negligence for ignoring the warnings. Kahan tendered his resignation on Tuesday, saying he was “torn and broken” in the wake of the tragedy.
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Last Wednesday, another two teenagers were killed in southern Israel and the West Bank by the flash floods.
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