Four-year-old boy drowns in flooding in southern Israel
The heavy rains began falling in the area of the Dead Sea and the Negev Desert on Tuesday night and continued to Thursday, causing major flooding.
By TAMARA ZIEVE, JERUSALEM POST STAFFPolice rescue driver in flood(photo credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
A four-year-old boy drowned in a flash flood caused by heavy rainfall in Israel's south on Thursday.The boy drowned in a reservoir near the Beduin town of Kuseife and was pulled out of the water and given emergency first aid by Magen David Adom paramedics. He was then rushed to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in critical condition, where doctors pronounced his death shortly after.Police instructed families in Beduin communities in the Negev to keep their children away from the rivers.According to Beterem (Israel Center for Child Safety and Health), 36 children have drowned thus far in 2018.The heavy rains began falling in the area of the Dead Sea and the Negev Desert on Tuesday night and continued to Thursday, causing major flooding. Major roadways have been closed until further notice. The rainfall was expected to reach its peak on Thursday night.The Meteorological Service warned of the danger of flooding in the eastern and southern streams and the coastal plain. The rain was expected to continue until Friday morning, and then to gradually weaken and end at noon. On Saturday, temperatures are expected to rise.
