Israeli motorcyclist killed in Bolivia

Tal Shalit of Herzliya plunges 60 meters off a notorious mountain road.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
bolivia map 298.88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
bolivia map 298.88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
An Israeli tourist was killed Friday in a motorcycle accident in Bolivia Friday, Army Radio reported. The body of Tal Shalit, 23, was recovered and taken to La Paz. His parents, residents of Herzliya, asked an official at Israel's Foreign Ministry official to oversee the transfer of their son's body to Israel for burial. Shalit is expected to be flown home on Monday. While the exact circumstances of the accident were unknown, the route he was traveling - a 70 km. distance between Coroico and La Paz, is known as "Death Road," and sadly, Shalit was not the first Israeli to prove the name apt. Five years ago, Mor Shoham of Kibbutz Neveh Eitan was killed while bicycling along the same road, and in 1999, eight Israeli backpackers died after the jeep in which they were riding overturned. The road begins 4633 meters above sea level and descends over 3000 meters to sea level. The incline is steep, large sections are unpaved and muddy, and it has no shoulders.