Aya Naamneh, 22, an Israeli Technion student who went missing Saturday in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert has been found dead, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
Naamneh, a resident of the Galilee town of Arraba, was visiting the country as part of a group of 50 Technion Institute of Technology students who were on a hike in the desert.
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A search party comprising private teams and local police and military forces was launched after Naamneh failed to arrive at an agreed-upon gathering point and concerns for her safety arose over the extreme heat.
Temperatures in the area reached 50°C (120°F) on Saturday, authorities said.
The Foreign Ministry said that Naamneh had somehow been separated from the group, adding that all signs pointed to her falling to her death.
A ministry official said its representatives on the ground in Ethiopia were doing everything in their power to ensure her body was returned to Israel as soon as possible.
Prior to her location by the search party, Naamneh's father told Channel 12 News that some of the students "went to one of the villages there. The way was long and it was very hot. In the middle of the trip some of the group felt tired and they decided to split up, as some wanted to go back to the bus. When they got to the bus one of the students asked where was Aya. They thought she was in another car and when they realized she wasn't there, they understood she was missing."
The Technion that said students had completed a four-week academic course with other foreign students in the city of Mekelle earlier in the week, and had decided to stay for several more days. It said the trip was privately organized.
The students were scheduled to return to Israel later on Sunday.
