Foreign national found dead in minefield near Dead Sea, 5 other people rescued

Man dies from apparent heatstroke while traversing closed military zone in seeming effort to enter Israel illegally from Jordan

By ToI Staff 27 August 2023, 1:35 pm

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In this handout photo, security forces and rescue personnel are seen near a closed military zone by the Dead Sea where a foreign national was declared dead after being found unconscious, August 27, 2023. (Israel Police)

A man died Sunday after being found unconscious in a closed military zone near the Dead Sea, as emergency personnel rescued several people he was with.

There was no immediate word from authorities on what the man, a foreign national, and the five others were doing in the area, but they appeared to have crossed illegally into Israel from Jordan.

Two members of the group were identified as Israelis while the rest were noncitizens.

According to police, the rescuers were sent to the area after the force received a report that people were in a minefield. After first responders extracted the five from the closed military zone, they found the unconscious man while searching the area and pronounced his death at the scene.

No cause of death was given but it appeared be heatstroke, with medics saying the others were suffering from heat exhaustion. Their conditions ranged from light to moderate.

Soldiers, including the military’s elite 669 helicopter-borne rescue unit, assisted in the rescue days after they were involved in responding to a rockslide near the Dead Sea in which an 8-year-old boy was killed and eight people were hurt.