Israeli, 23, killed when ATV flips over in Bolivia
Since La Paz severed relations with Jerusalem in 2009, Israeli embassy in Peru working to help return body; family has been notified
A 23-year-old Israeli tourist was killed in an accident in Bolivia on Saturday when the all-terrain vehicle in which he was traveling flipped over in the country’s capital, La Paz.
His family in Israel has been informed.
The Israeli embassy in Peru is working with local authorities to return the body to Israel for burial.
Over the past year, two other Israelis have died while traveling in the Latin American country. Dor Jan, 23, from Kiryat Ono in central Israel, was killed in a motorcycle accident in February. Four months before that, a 28-year-old Israeli woman was biking on the Yungas Road, popularly known as the “Road of Death” due to the prevalence of accidents there, when she began to experience altitude sickness. She died on the way to a hospital in La Paz.
The dangerous Yungas Road is a popular tourist destination for Israelis and other visitors to the country. Since 1999, at least 10 Israelis have died in accidents there.
Though Bolivia remains a popular destination for Israeli backpackers, its president, Evo Morales, severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009, calling its treatment of Palestinians “a genocide.”
In July 2014, Morales declared Israel a “terrorist state” because of its war against the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip, and required Israeli citizens to obtain a visa to visit.
The Times of Israel Community.