IDF soldier killed in maintenance accident to be laid to rest
Corporal Viacheslav Gargay, 20, will be buried Thursday in Rishon Lezion
An IDF soldier who killed in a maintenance accident in northern Israel on Monday will be laid to rest at a military cemetery in Rishon Lezion on Thursday afternoon.
Corporal Viacheslav Gargay, 20, from Rishon Lezion died after sustaining fatal injuries during routine maintenance work on an armored personnel carrier in the Golan Heights.
He served in the Ordnance Corps in the IDF’s Golani Brigade.
“I asked him, ‘Why Golani, what, there isn’t anything better closer to home?’
“He said, ‘Mom, I want it, I want to protect the country,'” Gargay’s mother, Tanya, told Ynet.
According to preliminary military investigations, Gargay suffered a severe blow to the upper torso from a heavy metal object during maintenance work on the APC.
He received first aid on site and airlifted in serious condition to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where he was eventually pronounced dead.
The IDF opened a probe into the incident.