A series of tragedies befell Israelis abroad: Bassel Abu Shariki, a 24-year-old student studying medicine in Tbilisi, Georgia, was killed after inhaling gas that leaked in his apartment.
“Just last week he was in Israel on vacation, he shook my hand and asked for my peace. He remembered to ask how the children were doing,” his uncle told Walla!. “It’s a terrible tragedy, it’s already very cold there at this time of the year and the heating is done with gas and apparently there was a malfunction and that’s how he died.” He said that Bassel Abu Shariki was going to finish his medical studies very soon after a lot of hardships. “He was a very talented guy, very hardworking and very ambitious,” he said.
The Israeli consulate in Georgia, Hadas Cohen, and the department for Israelis abroad in the consular wing in Jerusalem, are handling the incident and are in constant contact with the authorities in Tbilisi and his family in this country in order to bring his body to be buried in Israel.
In addition, in a car accident that happened last night in Seattle, Guy Levy, an Israeli citizen about 40 years old who had been living in the USA for the past few years, was killed.
“It’s a disaster for the family and a disaster for the entire city. As soon as I heard the bad news, I ran to the family’s house,” he told Walla! Mayor of Dimona Benny Biton. “I knew this boy from the age of zero, he grew up in the city. The transfer of the body is delayed because it is a very serious accident and they are waiting for an official and final identification. Like many Israelis, he sought his fortune overseas, he has been there for 13 years,” he added.
The case is being handled by the Consulate General in San Francisco. The Department for Israelis Abroad in the Consular Wing in Jerusalem is in contact with the family, and Consul Noa Shapira is assisting with the authorities in moving the deceased’s coffin to Israel.