Video: Four killed when tourist boat capsized in Lake Maggiore in Italy (Reuters)
Ten Israelis who survived the sinking disaster in Lake Maggiore in Italy were flown on a military flight to Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning, Italian media reported on Tuesday, two days after the boat capsized that killed four people, including a 50-year-old former Defense Ministry employee and two Italian intelligence officers. In addition to them, the wife of the captain of the boat, a Russian citizen, perished.
According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, 18 of the 20 survivors of the disaster were past or present intelligence agents and were hastily evacuated from emergency rooms and hotels "so as not to leave a trace." Due to the identity of the passengers on board the ship for the birthday celebration, Italy stressed that it was an accident caused by a sudden change in the weather, and not a man-caused event.
In Israel, too, they lowered their profile regarding the incident. The Foreign Ministry said only that the Israeli fatality was a "retired member of the security forces" and that "the Israeli consul in Rome together with the Department for Israelis Abroad in the Foreign Ministry are working to bring the coffin of the deceased to Israel." The name of the deceased has not been released.
The survivors were quickly evacuated from hospitals. The rescue operation at the lake, Sunday (Photo: Reuters, Reuters)
The 16-meter-long boat was caught in a sudden storm on Sunday evening before sinking near the town of Lisanza, at the southern end of the lake. Most of the passengers and crew managed to escape by swimming ashore or being rescued by other vessels. Lake Maggiore stretches between Italy and Switzerland and is a popular resort among many citizens and tourists.
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CHAIRS FLOATING IN THE LAKE AFTER THE BOAT CAPSIZED, FIRST (PHOTO: SCREENSHOT, VIGILI DEL FUOCO)
The boat capsized was the latest in a series of extreme weather-related disasters to hit Italy. Earlier this month, 15 people were killed in floods that battered the Emilia Romagna region.
Six months ago, 12 people were killed in a mudslide on the southern island of Ischia, and in September 11 people died in floods in the center of the country. In July, an iceslide in the Italian Alps killed 11 people following a heat wave that exacerbated Italy's worst drought in at least 70 years.
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