IDF search and rescue teams yesterday retrieved the bodies of the six IAF servicemen killed in the helicopter crash in Romania.
Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office
The IDF delegation, which set up a forensics lab at a Romanian Air Force base here, worked throughout Wednesday to identify the body parts and was preparing to hold a ceremony on Thursday before lifting off for Israel.
The delegation consists of forensic experts and officers from the Chaplains Corps who are equipped with files on the fallen servicemen, including fingerprints, dental records and other markings that can be used in confirming the identities of the bodies.
Three IAF helicopters carrying about 60 soldiers from the air force’s search-and-rescue unit 669, officers and dogs from the Oketz canine unit, and Medical Corps representatives flew early on Tuesday morning to the Carpathian Mountains. Due to the tough terrain, the soldiers landed on a mountain 3 km. from the crash site and went the rest of the way on foot.
“The wreckage is scattered over a large area,” a senior IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post.
“The teams at the site worked to collect the remains and pieces of the wreckage that are required for the air force’s investigation into what caused the crash.”
Meanwhile, it looks like the crash was caused by a combination of human error and heavy fog and poor weather.
Israel is aiding an exiled sheikh who is vying to seize control of an important Gulf emirate some 65 kms from Iran. The Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, has met Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr al-Qasimi, the exiled crown prince of Ras al-Khaimeh (RAK), who asked him to help with his efforts to oust the current leadership of the emirate.
The meeting took place in London in March and has been followed by phone calls and wider assistance and advice, according to records of the relationship seen by the Guardian.
Khalid, who has been based in London and has hired a solicitor from Ickenham as his agent, is bidding to replace his ailing father, Sheikh Saqr, and half brother, Sheikh Saud, to take control of RAK.
Khalid, who was sent into exile in 2003, claims RAK is now acting as a trafficking hub for nuclear arms parts to Iran and has spent more than £4m on an international public relations and lobbying campaign to persuade U.S. politicians and the pro-Israel lobby in the US that it would be safer if he were in charge.
Prosor has pressed his contacts in the US government on behalf of Khalid whose aides asked for help setting up meetings in Washington with anyone interested in their claims about RAK’s alleged sanctions busting, particularly concerning parts for the Iranian nuclear development.
6:05AM: The latest in my A Taste of “Concentration Camp” Gaza series.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
