Hundreds of friends and family on Wednesday evening attended the funeral of 14-year-old Asher Hazut, who died after being struck by lightning on the Zikim Beach in southern Israel.
Asher was seriously injured by the lightning strike as he was spending time with his family at the beach. Doctors at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon fought for his life for many hours, but were ultimately unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri issued a statement following the death of the boy, who was the son of a senior activist in the Shas party.
"I send sincere condolences to Rabbi Shimon Hazut on the loss of his dear son Asher Hazut, a 14-year-old student at the Ner Shmuel Yeshiva, who was struck by lightning.”
"On my behalf and on behalf of the entire Shas movement, we share in the family's grief over the unbearable loss, and pray for the speedy recovery of the other members of the family who were also hit by the lightning strike," Minister Deri said.
Earlier, on the recommendation of rabbis, the Hazut family added the name Chaim to Asher’s name due to the real danger to his life. Four other members of his family were injured in the incident - two brothers, a sister and another brother's wife.
One of the injured brothers said of the lightning strike shortly after the incident, "I heard a big blast with a flash of light and saw that everyone was flying."