Body of teen recovered from West Bank water cistern after swimming tragedy

Fire and Rescue services say 15-year-old, named as Boaz Azoulai, was with friends near Kedumim; other teens said to be in moderate, light condition from hypothermia

By ToI Staff 3 July 2020, 9:56 am

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Rescue workers recover the body of a teen who drowned in a cistern near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim on July 2, 2020. (Liran Atias/Fire and Rescue Service)

Rescue workers recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy from a water cistern near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim on Thursday evening.

The teen, named by Hebrew-language media as Boaz Azoulai, had gone swimming with two friends in the water tank, which was between three and four meters (9.8-13 ft.) deep, but failed to emerge.

His body was found by rescue workers from the Fire and Rescue Service — including a team specializing in complex rescues — who were dispatched to the scene.

“After a prolonged rescue effort… the boy’s body was sadly recovered,” paramedics Yehezkel Rochem and Sharia Milecki told Hebrew-language media, adding that they had provided assistance to the other two teens who had managed to extract themselves from the cistern.

The two surviving teens were said to be in moderate and light condition from hypothermia.