Honeymooning Israeli dies on flight from Europe to Miami
Man said to suffer allergic reaction after eating kosher meal
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
An Israeli man died overnight Tuesday after eating a meal on a plane to Miami, where he and his newlywed wife were traveling to for their honeymoon.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that an Israeli citizen died during the Iberia flight from Spain to the US “due to health reasons.”
“The department for Israelis abroad and the Israeli consul in Miami, Eliyahu Levy, are helping the family bring the body back for burial in Israel,” the ministry said.
An initial investigation pointed toward a food allergy as a likely cause of the man’s rapid deterioration and collapse after he finished his specially ordered kosher meal, according to Hebrew media reports.
Cabin crew tried to resuscitate the man, 32, but were unable to save him.
Spanish and US official launched an investigation into the incident.
The Zaka emergency rescue service said it was alerted to the man’s death before the plane landed in Miami and immediately put into operation its international procedures to have a representative meet the victim’s wife at the airport. They were married two months ago.
Zaka operations head Haim Winegarten said the organization also contacted the man’s doctor in Israel to obtain his medical records, which apparently showed he had a food allergy. The medical records would be necessary to arrange the return of the man’s body back to Israel.
After the plane landed the body taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Miami.
