Fourteen young Israelis were killed today when a rock slide crushed the dining hall at Neot Hakikar, a paramilitary settlement In the Jordan River valley south of the Dead Sea. The victims included a number of girls. Initial reports said that ten persons were injured but later information indicated a much higher number. The names of the casualties were withheld pending notification of next of kin. Neot Hakikar established in the 1950s, is a settlement of the Nahal type in which youths cultivate the land and perform certain military duties. It is located in the Arava district, one of the most remote areas of the Negev where several more Nahal settlements have sprung up since the Six-Day War. Neot Hakikar has been an occasional target of rocket attacks by guerrillas in Jordan. Geologists had no immediate explanation of the rock slide. The settlement is located in a moderate seismic zone that extends from Turkey, through the Jordan Valley to the Red Sea and East Africa.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
