The body of an Israeli hiker who has been missing since Sunday was found Monday morning in New Zealand’s Whanganui River, a Mako report said.

The 24-year-old Israeli man was hiking with a group of fellow Israelis and as they were trying to cross the river early Sunday morning he was apparently swept off by the stream.

His friends transmitted a distress signal to the control center of the Magnus International Search & Rescue company via a satellite device, and local search and rescue forces were summoned to the scene and began searching for the man.

The New Zealand police force and Coast Guard searched along the banks and in the river by boat throughout the day on Sunday. The New Zealand Police Dive Squad arrived overnight on Sunday and the search resumed at daylight on Monday with a helicopter and the dive squad.

The divers located the Israeli’s body in the very place he was last seen. Apparently, instead of being swept away by the stream as was thought, he drowned due to weakness caused by as yet unknown reasons. He had mentioned to the other hikers that he felt weak before he disappeared.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry is arranging for the body to be brought to Israel for burial.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)