Israeli woman dies of heatstroke on hike near Jordan’s Petra
30-year-old was taking part in organized trip to mountainous region around village of Rajif
A 30-year-old Beersheba woman collapsed and died from heatstroke while on a hike in Jordan, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The woman was taking part in an organized trip Wednesday in the mountains around the village of Rajif, near the tourist site at Petra.
During the hike, she began to show signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion. Fellow hikers tried to care for her, but her condition worsened. She was pronounced dead at the scene by rescuers who arrived several hours later on foot across the treacherous terrain.
Her body had to be removed from the area on foot, an operation that was only complete in the early morning hours of Thursday.
The Israeli embassy in Jordan and the Office for Israelis Overseas at the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department have been in touch with the woman’s family, the ministry said. One of the embassy’s deputy consuls helped oversee the overnight rescue efforts. Israeli and Jordanian officials are arranging the transfer of her body to Israel.
Rajif is located in the Wadi Rum desert south of Petra and is home to vast red-tinged gorges and cliffs that have become a popular site for hikers from across the world.
[mappress mapid=”6472″]
A 23-year-old Israeli hiker was killed in the area after falling off a cliff in May 2016.
The summer months have seen a series of deadly accidents for Israeli backpackers and travelers abroad. Last week, an 18-year-old from Jerusalem was killed after falling off a cliff at Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains and a 25-year-old Israeli backpacker in Dharamshala in northern India died from an apparent dairy allergy.