Sinai Peninsula
Sinai PeninsulaiStock

An Israeli citizen in his 50s drowned on Monday while on a family vacation with his wife and two children in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Foreign Ministry is assisting in bringing his body for burial in Israel.

The Foreign Ministry stated that "the family received the terrible news. The wife is currently in Nuweiba with the two children. The Department for Israelis Abroad, in the Consular Affairs Division, is making efforts to bring the coffin of the deceased to Israel as soon as possible."

The chief of operations at ZAKA, Chaim Weingarten, added, "This is a 57-year-old Israeli who drowned at the beach in the Taba area in front of his wife and two small children (ages 6-8). Local medical forces who were called to the scene performed prolonged resuscitation operations and evacuated him to a local hospital where the doctors were forced to pronounce him dead."

"At this point, the family members are together with the deceased in the hospital near the Taba border along with a ZAKA representative who is accompanying the family. The ZAKA organization, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are working to secure the release of the body of the deceased to Israel, hopefully tonight."