Two arrested for suspected negligent homicide in school trip tragedy
Be'er Sheva Magistrates’ Court extends arrest of pre-military academy principal after ten teens were killed in a flash flood during a trip in flood-prone area in south Israel, despite hazardous weather warnings and brutal storm that hit Israel a day earlier.
Police arrested two members of staff from a pre-military academy overnight Thursday, including the principal Yuval Kahan, on suspicion of causing death by negligence of ten teenagers who were killed during a flash flood in south Israel during a trip, despite the hazardous weather warnings.
The Be'er Sheva Magistrates’ Court extended Kahan's arrest the same afternoon by five days. One of the group’s guides on the trip, 27-year-old, Aviv Bardichev, also had his arrest extended by five days.
Another member of staff was also questioned about the oversights that led to the disaster but was released to house arrest.
Ten teens from the Bnei Zion pre-military academy school were killed on Thursday while on a two-day bonding trip to Zafit Stream in HaArava. Fifteen were pulled from the floods to safety with only minor injuries. Two were lightly to moderately wounded.
The group was suddenly swept away while walking in the middle of the stream when a massive flash flood engulfed them, a day after central and northern Israel was battered by a violent storm that claimed two lives, and weather forecast predicted more to come.
According to the police, the suspects knew ahead of the trip about the potential flash floods but nevertheless decided to proceed with the hike, even as students themselves voiced concerns of the potentially fatal consequences.
Bardichev is believed to have organized the route of the trip that took the students to the southern stream. Moreover, the initial rounds of questioning revealed contradictions in the versions given by the guide and Kahan regarding the trail that was approved.
Bardichev’s attorney issued a statement after the court’s decision, describing his client as an “extremely scrupulous man who came (on the trip) due to his values. There is huge regret about what happened. At 12am (during the investigation) he didn’t even understand why he needed legal advice and he said ‘there are people who have died. I don’t need to deal with this.’”
Responding to the judge’s reasons for extending his remand, which he said were due to obstruction of the investigation, the attorney said “this is not a person who obstructs the investigation but who helps the investigation. Everything he can do he will do for the investigation, unlike people who hide things behind the right to silence or other rights.”
Telling the court on his client’s behalf that he had served in the academy for a number of years, the attorney added that Bardichev “believes that he acted entirely responsibly.”
The ten teens who were killed—nine girls and one boy—have been identified and funerals began at 12:30pm.
They include Ela Or from Ma’ale Adumim, Romi Cohen from Moshav Maor, Yael Sadan from Jerusalem, Maayan Barhum from Jerusalem, Agam Levy from Moshav Herut, Gali Balelli from Givatayim, Shani Shamir from Shoham, Adi Ra’anan from Moshav Mikhmoret, Tzur Alfi from Mazkeret Batya, also in central Israel and Illan Bar Shalom from Rishon LeZion.
The investigators are still waiting at the Ein Tamar moshav near where the incident took place, as authorities remove heavy machinery and clear the roads that were blocked due to the floods.
The mother of one of the people who was lightly injured, Ron Hakim, said the staffers' arrests are not the family's top priority at the moment. Ron, she said is still unaware of the magnitude of the tragedy.
"They changed the track's route several times. We blame ourselves for letting him go on this trip, but we didn't know he would be in that place," she said. "He didn't have any reception."
While the police continues to investigate the matter, various government offices quarreled among themselves about who is responsible for the pre-military academy school
Despite the fact that most of the students who went on the trip were twelfth-graders, the Ministry of Education said that a request for the authorization of the trip was not brought before the Ministry's situation room.
The Ministry of Education emphasized that pre-military academy school trips don't require its authorization, insisting that it was informed that twelfth-graders went on the trip only after the disaster happened.
