10 Israeli Schoolkids Killed By Flash Flood In Negev Desert
Image by Getty Images
At least 10 youths were reportedly killed when they were swept away by a flash flood in the Negev Desert in southern Israel on Thursday, and seven others were in critical condition, police and emergency services said.
One other student was missing, the Times of Israel reported.
Military helicopters and security forces were searching the Zafit river bed that flows into the rift valley at the southern end of the Dead Sea after a flash flood caught a party of trekkers in the usually bone dry area by surprise.
Many in the party of 25 were swept away, a police spokeswoman said, and an official from Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said at least seven who were located were in critical condition, while others were still unaccounted for.
Israel has had heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. Normally arid river beds that run from west to east and collect large amounts of water deposit torrents into the Dead Sea and the rift valley region that runs south along the Negev Desert.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
