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Sheneur Zalman Friedman, 8 year old from Jerusalem was with his father and two brothers late night in the sea, when the currents in the Dead Sea swept him away from the shore into the sea. No one noticed him missing until during later part of the night. Sheneur
spent six hours floating in the Dead Sea.
Dead Sea is one of the popular tourist locations in Israel, has a high concentration of salt content that lets swimmers to float on the surface. This salt content might have saved Friedman by allowing him to float in the surface of the sea.
Sheneur’s father was in a large group visiting a beach reserved for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men only, who do not bathe in the presence of women in public areas. Maybe the presence of a woman would have noticed the boy’s absence. But the father missed his kid's absence.
Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said it was an accident and won’t press charges against the parent. His father left the waters with other members of the group and noticed the boy’s missing only later on.
Then a major search was carried out with helicopters and motorboats and after some time they were able to locate Friedman about 2 miles from the shore after nearly six hours in strong smelling, corrosive Dead Sea waters.
Sheneur was found dehydrated and frightened. He said his rescuers that he remained calm during this ordeal, said many prayers and thought about his school friends while he was floating in the darkness. He just drifted with the current and didn’t try to swim back to the shore. Probably was afraid or lost direction.
The salt waters helped him to float, but had he panicked it would have choked him if swallowed large quantities of the corrosive waters.
The rescuers initially expected the worst but were extremely happy to find the boy alive and well. Sheneur’s calmness in this helped him survive this ordeal.
