2 convicted of negligent manslaughter over deaths of 10 teens in 2018 Tzafit flood disaster

The Beersheba District Court convicts two defendants in the Tzafit riverbed flash flood disaster, Yuval Kahan and Aviv Bardichev, of negligent manslaughter and determines that they were responsible for the deaths of 10 high school students hiking in a riverbed in 2018.

Kahan was the principal of the Bnei Zion premilitary academy while Bardichev was the educational director at the academy’s Tel Aviv branch and the leader of the hike in the Tzafit riverbed.

The nine girls and one boy, high school students on a field trip organized by Bnei Zion, were swept away in a torrential flood while hiking in the riverbed on April 26, 2018.

It had begun to rain lightly before the group entered the Tzafit canyon. Half an hour later, with the group having reached a deep gorge, a flash flood crashed down on them, killing the 10 students and injuring two others.

Kahan and Bardichev should have changed the route of their hike because of the poor weather and weather warnings from the day before, the court notes.

The court finds that Kahan personally exerted pressure for the hike to go ahead despite severe weather warnings and attempts to have him cancel the hike. Kahan was not physically present with the group during the hike and failed to stay in touch with them.

The court also finds that the Kahan and Bardichev should have been aware of the danger, and that they took unreasonable risks that led to the disaster.