The

Neot HaKikar Neot HaKikar ( he, נְאוֹת הַכִּכָּר) is a moshav in the northern Arava valley in Israel established in 1970. Located immediately south of the Dead Sea, at an elevation of ''below'' sea level, it falls under the jurisdiction of Tam ...

disaster (Hebrew: אסון נאות הכיכר), which occurred on 30 December 1970, was until the Mount Carmel forest fire of 2010 the worst

natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

in the history of the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Heavy rains caused rocks to detach from an overhanging cliff and crush a

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

in an

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

base. 19 soldiers and one civilian were killed and ten soldiers were injured (three of them severely).

The accident and rescue operations

On Wednesday, 30 December 1970, at 12:15, part of a 12-meter-high cliff suddenly detached and hit an

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

military base kitchen. Soon afterwards, the whole cliff detached and crushed the base dining room while the soldiers were having lunch. The soldiers who were outside the dining room quickly called for assistance, and in less than an hour the first

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

helicopter landed at base with a medical team. The base was covered in rocks which were on average three meters high and about five meters wide, preventing the immediate evacuation of the dead and wounded, who were buried underneath 1,500 tons of rock and soil. Removing the rocks was only possible with heavy mechanical equipment. Initially, the heavy mechanical equipment arrived from the nearby

Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works ( he, מפעלי ים המלח, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given ...

potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.

plant, and later heavy mechanical equipment was also sent from the

Combat Engineering Corps The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps ( he, חיל ההנדסה הקרבית, ''Heil HaHandasa HaKravit'') is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The Combat Engineering Corps beret's color is silver and its symbol featur ...

. The rescue operations continued uninterrupted into the night, during which floodlights and torches were used to allow the work to continue. During the rescue work, Defense Minister

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

, IDF Chief of Staff

Haim Bar-Lev Haim "Kidoni" Bar-Lev ( he, חיים בר-לב, 16 November 1924 – 7 May 1994) was a military officer during Israel's pre-state and early statehood eras and later a government minister. Biography Born Haim Brotzlewsky in Vienna and raised in ...

, and Southern Command chief

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

visited the scene. By midnight, all of the injured and dead had been recovered.

References

{{coord missing, Israel Israel Defense Forces disasters Natural disasters in Israel 1970 in Israel 1970 natural disasters 1970 disasters in Israel