Search Underway for Father and 6 Children Missing After Hiking in Nahal Gov
Extensive search operations are underway in the Arava region for a father and his six children, aged 9 to 19, who went missing during a hike. Contact was lost after they reported exhaustion due to extreme heat.
Extensive searches are currently underway in the Arava for a father and his six children, aged between 9 and 19, with whom contact was lost after they set out for a hike in the Nahal Gov area around 8:00 AM.
Volunteers from the Arava Search and Rescue Unit were dispatched to the incident to locate and rescue the family members. According to the mother, who did not join the hike, they set out equipped with water, hats, and hiking shoes.
The family members contacted the mother when they began the trail at 9:30 AM. At 11:30 AM, they made contact again, stating they were exhausted from the heavy heat and hoped to finish the trail within half an hour. Since then, contact has been lost, and the mother alerted the rescue unit. Concerns are growing due to the extreme heat, as temperatures in the Arava region are reaching over 40 degrees today.
Unit teams from Hatzeva and Idan have urgently departed for Nahal Gov; they will split into two groups to begin searching from both the top and the bottom of the stream.
Nadav Ailon from the Arava Search and Rescue Unit stated:
"We received a report about a family of six who went to hike the circular trail in Nahal Gov. The family members who stayed behind received a message that they were in the middle of the trail and feeling exhausted. They were supposed to return an hour ago. A call was then made to the police to alert the rescue unit.
Currently, we have two teams in the field. We have equipped ourselves with enough water and are informing the Air Force in case we need to use a helicopter rescue due to their medical condition."
