Very Sad News: The Death of Yuval Peleg

I received word early this morning that Yuval Peleg, an archaeologist with the IAA, was suddenly killed while working in a cave which collapsed.

via

UPDATE:  Joseph Lauer provides the following details:

The following articles apparently deal with the very sad news.

The Times of Israel (“Archaeologist killed in landslide at West Bank dig — Paramedics say 50-year-old crushed by rocks, pronounced dead at site”) at  http://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologist-killed-in-landslide-at-west-bank-dig/

The Jerusalem Post (“Man killed by falling rocks during archaeology dig in West Bank — Israeli and several Palestinian workers were digging at entrance to cave when rocks began falling down the mountain, trapping the man”) at http://www.jpost.com/Article.aspx?id=360675 or  http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Man-killed-by-falling-rocks-during-archaeology-dig-in-West-Bank-360675

Jerusalem Online (“Archaeologist Killed in Samaria Cave Collapse — A disaster happened in an archaeological site in Samaria. A cave collapsed when a 46-year-old archaeologist was standing inside. MDA arrived on site to give him medical treatment, but was forced to announce his death”) at  http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/archaeologist-killed-in-samaria-cave-collapse-6126

This is so very tragic.  He has two small children and a wife and just completed his PhD and had a new job with the IAA.  If you’re the praying sort, pray for his family and friends.

UPDATE II:  More from Joe

As unfortunately expected, Yuval Peleg was identified as the archaeologist killed in an accident, and his funeral has been scheduled for Friday morning. See   Arutz Sheva [Hebrew News Brief] at http://www.inn.co.il/News/Flash.aspx/449839

Arutz Sheva (“Archaeologist Yuval Peleg is scheduled to be laid to rest, Friday morning at 9:30 in the cemetery of Kfar Adumim, east of Jerusalem”) at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/296536 [English] http://www.inn.co.il/News/Flash.aspx/449841 [Hebrew]

Other articles include the following:

Arutz Sheva (“Archaeologist Killed in Samaria Cave-In — Yuval Peleg, 45, of Kfar Adumim, was a senior archaeologist in the IDF’s Civil Administration”) at  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182201 [English]  http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/278921 [Hebrew, with a video of a Hebrew lecture by Yuval Peleg]

Maariv [Hebrew, with pictures and a video of a Hebrew lecture by Yuval Peleg] at http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/589/163.html

A picture of the rescue efforts at the cave is at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/static/Resizer.ashx/News/468/282/513887.jpg and http://www.inn.co.il/static/pictures/513/513795.jpg

Dr. Aren Maeir posted a note about the sad news, saying that “Yuval ז”ל, was both a very nice person and an excellent scholar. יהי זכרו ברוך”, and closing with “With the excavation seasons now starting (or already going on) – please, please – let’s all be careful out there!” See   http://gath.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/sad-news-yuval-peleg-iaa-archaeologist-killed-in-work-accident/