Motorcyclist collapses, dies on off-road path in northern Israel

A motorcyclist collapsed while riding on an off-road route near the town of Shlomi in the Western Galilee, on Saturday morning, passing away on the scene.

Volunteers from the "Carmel-Galilee" search and rescue unit arrived on the scene and carried out a number of resuscitation attempts, but the unit's doctor had to pronounce him dead on the spot.

The rescue unit had arrived on the scene after an initial distress call about a motorcyclist who collapsed off-road.

An Israeli Air Force rescue helicopter was then dispatched to the scene along with soldiers of the Israeli Air Force's elite 669 Search and Rescue Unit joined the team in the field in an attempt to resuscitate the victim.

The helicopter arrived too late

Matan, a rescuer in the "Carmel-Galilee" unit described the incident, saying: "We received a call abouta medical emergency in the area of Matzuva. I arrived at the spot where the injured man was, together with the vice commander of the unit, Erez Hadar.

"A Magen David Adom team had already begun CPR and we joined them. After a certain period of time, the Air Force helicopter arrived and a team of Unit 669 soldiers joined us. After some examinations, the doctor of the Unit pronounced the man dead on the spot."

"At 8:40 a.m. we received the call for CPR near Matzuva, I set out quickly before we even knew the exact spot, then we received an exact description during the drive there," Avishai Lampart, a senior paramedic in the "Carmel-Galilee" unit, said. 

"When we arrived minutes after the MDA team, we helped them perform CPR for a while, which included massages, respiration and medicine. Later, the helicopter and the 669 teams arrived, and the doctor had to pronounce him dead after an examination. We carried the dead man on a stretcher to the helicopter, that took him to the hospital in Nahariya."