Disaster in the Jordan River: 'The level of the trip must be adapted to the weakest link'

A 16-year-old boy drowned in the Jordan River. Dotan Rochman from the Golan Rescue Unit and Israel Cohen from 'Kol B'Rama' spoke with 103FM about the incident: the boy went upstream, after a few minutes the boat was seen overturned, and he was found on the bottom after about 20 minutes of searching. The two called for increased caution on trips, especially during the summer vacation, and noted campaigns by rabbis in recent years.

A 16-year-old boy drowned in the Jordan River. Dotan Rochman from the Golan Rescue Unit, who was present during the search, told 103FM about the sequence of events: the unit was called to the scene without knowing it was a drowning. The boy went upstream, and after a few minutes the boat was seen overturned. Rescue forces, fire department, and police operated for about 20 minutes until he was found on the bottom. Rochman noted that during the summer vacation there are many calls, and yesterday there were two additional rescues simultaneously. Israel Cohen from 'Kol B'Rama' said that some of the casualties in hiking accidents come from the Haredi sector, and noted that in the last three years there have been campaigns by rabbis to warn about trips and to go out with water bottles. He added that he would dedicate part of his broadcast to the issue to warn the public: take water, hike only on marked trails. He emphasized that even rescue unit members enter the water only in pairs, because the stream looks calm but is not.