A rockslide occurred at the Nachal Dovid waterfall at the Ein Gedi nature reserve on Thursday morning, injuring at least 9 hikers, including an 8-year-old boy who died of his injuries shortly later. He was later identified as Yehudah Levi, z’l, a resident of Chemdas, a religious yishuv in the Jordan Valley.

Emergency rescue forces rushed to the scene, including three Air Force helicopters with rescue teams from Unit 669 and MDA helicopters, Fire and Rescue services, and ambulances.

MDA paramedic Lior Shasha said: “It was a complex rescue. We quickly arrived at the scene, left the ambulances in the parking lot, and went on a 25-minute walk with the medical equipment to the scene of the incident. We saw a number of injured victims, including a 5-year-old boy who was unconscious and had a severe stomach injury, and a 12-year-old girl and 40-year-old woman who were fully conscious and had suffered mild to moderate injuries.”

The paramedics carried out prolonged resuscitation techniques on the boy but ultimately were forced to declare his death at the scene. Other paramedics treated the girl and woman as well as another four injured hikers, including a four-year-old girl who was moderately injured, and an eight-year-old boy, a man in his 20s, and a man in his 40s who were lightly injured. The injured were evacuated, some by helicopter, to the trauma room in Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva.

Paramedics also treated a number of people who were suffering from shock after witnessing the scene.

According to a preliminary investigation, the hikers were following the marked path at the stream but nevertheless there was an unexpected rockslide.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)