Father, 5 children who went missing during Dead Sea hike found in good health

Police and local rescuers launched nighttime ground and aerial search after relatives said they’d had no contact with the six since the morning

By ToI Staff 13 February 2019, 10:33 pm

Edit

Darga River near the Dead Sea. (Wikipedia/Attribution/Ester Inbar)

A father and his five children, aged 12 to 18, were found in good health after apparently getting lost during a trek in the cliff-lined Darga River, a popular hiking area and seasonal river near the Dead Sea.

The missing hikers’ family notified police on Wednesday evening that the six family members had not been heard from since the morning. The family, whose name was not given by police, lives in a settlement in the nearby Binyamin Regional Council area of the West Bank.

Their car was located at a parking lot at Shalem Lookout, near the river’s end where its waters reach the Dead Sea.

Police launched a search for the group together with the local Megilot Rescue Unit. A police helicopter was deployed to search for the group and help guide rescuers who entered the riverbed on foot.

A helicopter-assisted rescue in Darga River near the Dead Sea, March 2015. (Wikipedia/Boaz Tzarfati/Megilot Rescue Unit/CC BY-SA)

The search was hampered by the pitch black conditions in the river’s dangerous canyons during the night.

Officials had said that there was no reason to believe the trekkers were badly hurt. But the river’s waters are very cold at this time of year, and there was some concern one or more of the hikers could be suffering from hypothermia and slowing down the group’s return to their vehicle.

Eventually the group was found. Video from a rescue helicopter showed night-vision camera footage with all six missing hikers at the bottom of the riverbed.