Israel: Unable to break son's fall, father plunges to death with him

Jerusalem: A tragic accident that saw a father sacrifice himself to try to save his son as he fell from a cliff has led to an outpouring of grief in Israel.

Some have taken solace in the fact that the boy's heart and other vital organs have been donated to four children, helping to save their lives.

The accident on Friday has led to widespread coverage in the Israeli media, including a photo of Omri Nir and his 10-year-old son Ilai smiling together.

They were part of a group hike in the steep canyons of the Judean desert near the Dead Sea. While descending in one area with the use of handles bolted into the rocks, the boy fell onto his father.

He could not stop his fall, so his father instead held him and fell with him in an attempt to cushion him, Israeli media reported.

A doctor who was part of the group descended to help them, but Nir, a 50-year-old professor specialising in modern Lebanese history, died.

Ilai survived but was semi-conscious, while the arrival of rescuers was delayed by the lack of a phone connection as well as by the remote location.

He was taken by helicopter to a hospital in the Israeli city of Beersheba, where he died from his injuries on Sunday.

More than 1,000 people attended their funeral on Monday in Kfar Vitkin, north of Tel Aviv, reports said. The family decided to donate the boy's organs.

"Once we had the green light, the Schneider children's hospital (near Tel Aviv) began a marathon of simultaneous transplants" that lasted an entire day, hospital spokeswoman Riva Shaked told AFP.

An eight-year-old boy received a heart transplant, while a four-year-old girl received a liver.

 A 10-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl each received a kidney.

"Everything went very well. The children are recovering," Shaked said.

She noted the exceptional nature of the transplants, saying only a small number of families agree to donate organs from their children.