Crash victims' coffins arrive in Israel
Six soldiers killed in helicopter accident in Romania to be laid to rest Friday afternoon
The plane left Romania after a short ceremony, which followed a long process carried out by Military Rabbinate personnel to identify the bodies according to Jewish Law. The six fallen soldiers will be laid to rest on Friday afternoon.
The victims were named as Lt. Col (Res.) Avner Goldman, 48, from Modiin; Lt. Col. Daniel Shipenbauer, 43, from Moshav Kidron; Maj. Yahel Keshet, 33, from Hatzerim; and Maj. Lior Shai, 28, from Tel-Nof. The mechanics aboard the chopper were Lt. Nir Lakrif, 25, from Tel- Nof; and Staff Sergeant Oren Cohen, 24, from Rehovot.
On Thursday night, the Rabbinate made fervent efforts to complete the final identification process of the six Israeli victims. Chief Military Rabbi Brigadier-General Rafi Peretz said it was "a very difficult task. As a pilot in the squadron, who knows these people very well, this is not an easy experience for me."
The CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters which took part in the drill in Romania and two C-130 Hercules planes which flew there following the disaster, landed at the Tel Nof base with some members of the delegation and the equipment.
The crewmembers were greeted with hugs by their relatives, as well as by Air Force Commander Ido Nehushtan and the chief military rabbi.
'Best team ever'
Peretz spoke about the emotional meeting with the pilots: "I am here at the squadron, I know the people who serve here, the best team ever, people who have done a wonderful job. There are strong fighters here and they will continue to work for the State of Israel, continue to be loyal to the spirit and their roles."
The victims' friends spoke about their bad feelings on Thursday. "We couldn't have gotten a more complicated mission, despite the fact that we landed in a friendly foreign country," said Major B. "The harsh state of the premises made things very difficult for the teams. The changing weather conditions require a new evaluation of the rescue efforts every second."
As for the difficulty to continue working in light of the disaster, Major B. explained that "there is a feeling that there are people who need us to do this, and this strengthens us to continue our efforts."
He added that his participation in the complicated rescue efforts "required all of my abilities as a pilot."
Earlier Thursday, President Shimon Peres telephoned Romanian President Traian Basescu and thanked him for the operations to help recover the bodies and Romania's warm treatment of Israel in the past few days.
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