Galit Sason
Cusco region
Photo: Amit Levy
Peru: Body of Israeli woman who fell off cliff found
Galit Sason, 23, believed to have fallen into gorge while travelling near ancient Incan city of Cusco
A Peruvian rescue team has located the body of 23-year-old Galit Sason of Ness Ziona, who fell into a gorge near the ancient Incan city of Cusco in southeastern Peru, the Foreign Ministry reported Monday morning.
The woman's friend informed local authorities of the incident on Sunday, and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene and began searching for her.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the deputy ambassador to Lima, Gali Dagan, was making his way to the scene, while Ministry officials in Israel were in contact with the young woman's family.Rabbi Ofer Kripor, Chabad's emissary to Cusco, said the group the missing woman travelled with was making its way from Machu Picchu to the capital Lima by bus. When the bus stopped for a short break, the woman got off and then apparently fell from a cliff dozens of meters high, he said.
Cusco often serves as a base for trekkers in South America. About a year ago 22-year-old Rishon Lezion resident Tomer Ahuan was killed when he apparently fell off his boat during a rafting expedition in the Apurimac River in Peru.
In another fatal accident, 23-year-old Yuval Noam of Jerusalem was killed in Turkey's Antalya region after he slipped and fell from a 40-meter (about 130 feet) cliff.
