Israeli Rescue Team Heads for Ethiopia in Aftermath of Deadly Plane Crash

The Israeli team will locate and identify the Israeli victims, collect their remains in keeping with Jewish law and ensure a full Jewish burial.

By United with Israel Staff

Following the tragic news of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday morning shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa airport – in which 149 people, including two Israelis, were killed – ZAKA sent a delegation of experienced volunteers from its International Rescue Unit.

The delegation included two teams, one from South Africa and another from Israel.

The Israeli team is working on locating and identifying the Israeli victims, collecting their remains in keeping with Jewish law and ensuring a full Jewish burial.

Since receipt of the tragic news, ZAKA headquarters has been in constant contact with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli Consulate in Addis Ababa and the Chabad emissary in Ethiopia, Rabbi Eliyahu Chaviv.

“Unfortunately, we have accumulated significant experience in dealing in a professional manner with incidents of this type,” ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav said.

A moment of silence was held at U.N. European headquarters in Geneva. “It is one of the biggest catastrophes we have had in years,” Director-General Michael Moller told the assembled.

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