The Foreign Ministry says it has secured the release of the body of an Israeli tourist who died last week while hiking in Peru, after authorities in Lima apparently dropped their demand for an autopsy.
Shira Roth, 21, from Ma’ale Adumim, was traveling in the South American country with a friend and and the friend’s mother when she reportedly fell ill after taking part in a trek to a mountain almost five kilometers high.
Shira Roth of Jerusalem, who died in Peru after suffering altitude sickness (Facebook)
“Following work by Israeli envoy to Peru Ehud Eitam and the consular division of the foreign ministry, the body of Shira Roth will be released and fly tonight from Lima,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry reads.
Roth died while on a bus on a way to a hospital after apparently suffering altitude sickness during a three-day trek in the Huaraz region.
Local authorities had demanded an autopsy, which Israel and her family refused, according to Israeli reports.
“We see the current handling of the situation by the Peruvians as unacceptable, even outrageous. There is a limit to how much a grieving family can wait,” a Foreign Ministry official told Ynet on Sunday.
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