Soldier dies, 8 more hospitalized as sweltering heat continues

An 18-year-old Israeli soldier from northern Israel died in Jerusalem on Tuesday after fainting from heat stroke as the extreme heatwave continued unabated. Another eight people, including a year-old baby girl, have been hospitalized, and around 150 hikers had to be rescued when they were stranded without water in northern Israel.

The soldier, Private Dan Sela from the northern city of Afula, collapsed during an educational tour of Jerusalem’s Old City and was transferred to nearby Shaare Zedek Medical Center in serious condition with a dangerously high body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot expressed his sympathies to Sela’s family and instructed commanders to follow the army’s operating protocols for heat waves.

In addition, head of the IDF Ground Forces Maj. Gen. Guy Tzur formed an investigatory team headed by a colonel to determine what led to Sela’s death.

The infant, who suffered from heat stroke, was taken to Ziv Medical Center in Safed in critical condition on Monday, along with her dehydrated father. The pair were overwhelmed by the high temperatures and humidity during a cycling trip in the Hula Valley, the Ynet website reported.

Despite frequent breaks and plenty of water, at a point during the trip the family called an ambulance when they noticed the baby was not responding. A short time later the father also collapsed.

The baby also arrived at hospital with a body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the nearby Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank, a Magen David Adom ambulance was called when a 59-year-old factory worker fainted. He was also taken to a local hospital in serious condition after receiving preliminary care at the scene.

Rescue services in the West Bank were called for a group of five hikers in Wadi Qelt, a dried-out stream bed near the Dead Sea. All five suffered from dehydration due to the near 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures in the area.

In northern Israel, a volunteer search and rescue unit in the Carmel region extracted some 150 hikers who had become stranded in the Ma’apilim Stream, in the eastern foothills of Mount Carmel, due to extreme heat conditions, Israel Police said.

A helicopter was used to locate most of the hikers, the police said on Twitter.

Extreme temperatures in Israel in recent days has led the Israel Meteorological Service to issue warnings of heat stress across the whole of the country. The heatwave is expected to last through Wednesday, the IMS said.