Syrians rescue Israelis from drowning
Israeli yacht sinks offshore of Limassol after water enter vessel; one man killed, two others drawn from water by Syrian sailors
Two other Israelis who were on board were rescued by a Syrian ship. They are reported to be in good health and were evacuated to Limassol for medical treatment.
The man who drowned is Shlomo Bar-Ner, 74, from the city of Givatayim.
The Cypriot Coast Guard reported that at 12:55 a.m. (local time) an emergency signal was received from the yacht, which was sailing in rough sea conditions south of the Gato Bay, eight kilometers (five miles) west of the port town of Limassol.
The sailing magazine Kachol reported that the yacht, carrying a Canadian flag and an Israeli sailing permit, sailed from Israel to Cyprus, accompanied by other Israeli yachts.
The yachts sailed against the direction of the wind, under conditions that made it difficult for the yacht to advance. They were caught in difficult weather conditions and faced strong northern winds.
The right part of the yacht was damaged for an unknown reason, and as a result of water infiltrating the vessel, it sank. The other Israeli yachts tried to help the crew of the sinking yacht.
The two Israeli survivors were eventually rescued by a Syrian-flagged ship. The Syrian sailors drew them from the water 29 kilometers (18 miles) off the shore and took them to a commercial platform in Limassol.
The Israelis said that the Syrians treated them in an "exemplary manner,"and noted that they are in good physical health, despite the tragedy they went through.
The three Israelis' yacht usually anchors in Jaffa, and professionals say that its skipper has a lot of experience in the sailing field.
'It was probably his age that killed him'
Bar-Ner, who drowned in the incident, had a son and a daughter and five grandchildren.
His brother-in-law, Nachum Zilberman, told Ynet that "This is a total shock for us. We just can’t grasp it. We heard in the news that a yacht had sunk, we started checking, even though we didn’t even think, and then we received the bad news."
"Shlomo adopted this habit many years ago. The fact that he continued with it at his age shows his deep love of sailing. In retrospect, it was probably his age that killed him. The younger ones survived, and perhaps he found it difficult to overcome the waves," he added.
"Shlomo used to sail often. Cyprus was on his regular sailing route. They sailed on a yacht belonging to a good friend, who joined him on nearly every sailing. Even when they didn’t sail, they would meet on the yacht. In the past they also sailed to Turkey and to other places in the Mediterranean," Zilberman concluded.
Bar-Ner's wife, Rochale, told Ynet that "My husband was an honest man, a loving father and loving grandfather." His son left for Cyprus in order to assist in transferring the body to Israel.
Diana Bahur-Nir contributed to the report
