The body of Shagai Mor was discovered Thursday morning in Koh Phangan, Thailand, ending a desperate overnight search for the 45-year-old Golan Heights father who drowned Wednesday while rescuing his son from powerful ocean currents.
Thursday morning brought the tragic conclusion when rescue teams recovered the body of Shagai Mor, a father of four, swept into the sea in Thailand after diving in to save his son. The incident happened on Koh Phangan.
Mor, 45, married to Inbal and father to four children aged 3-13, had lived in the Kela-Alon settlement in northern Golan for roughly 10 years. Shagai worked as a gardener. Over the past two years, he had been serving in active reserve duty. The community characterizes him as "a man of action who helped everyone. Beloved and friendly."
On Wednesday afternoon, the father entered the sea after his son, who had been swept away in the island's eastern bay, in the town of Chaloklum. The father succeeded in moving the son close to shore into the hands of nearby restaurant owners, who managed to pull the son onto shore while the father was pulled back into the sea, as the mother and her children stood on shore screaming for help.
Uri Kelner, head of the Golan Regional Council, stated, "The Golan Regional Council embraces the Mor family and the Kela-Alon community in this difficult hour. Our hearts are with his wife, Inbal, and the children." Inbal Mor, Shagai's wife, stated, "In these difficult hours, I want to express gratitude from all our hearts to the good people who mobilized to save Shagai. The hundreds of volunteers who searched throughout the night on nearby beaches, the Magen team, Klal Insurance, Chabad House, and the Foreign Ministry, and the round-the-clock support. We are now gathering within the family to cope with the difficult news and to strengthen the household."
Extreme weather hindered the search
The extensive searches faced significant difficulties due to extreme weather conditions, making it impossible to launch an emergency helicopter. Strong winds and nearly zero visibility blocked takeoff and safe navigation, while simultaneously the stormy sea and high waves prevented safe hovering or landing above the water.
Additionally, Koh Phangan has no emergency helicopters available, and regional helicopters are not authorized to operate under such conditions. Because of the powerful winds, drones also cannot take to the air, and significant difficulty exists in scanning the ocean surface from above. Deploying rescue boats also proved impossible. The breaking waves near shore create immediate capsizing danger, and the powerful side winds complicate vessel control and precise searching. Under such circumstances, dispatching a boat endangers both the rescued and the rescue team.
The entire Israeli community rallied for the searches, and for extended hours, approximately 160 volunteers combed the town's beaches with flashlights and motorcycles. Numerous young Israelis traveling in Koh Phangan joined the searches, along with tourists from across the world. Volunteers from the Israeli community on the island, social workers, and psychologists stayed with the mother and children constantly and provided emotional support for the family.
On Wednesday, during an overnight flight, a team from the Magen rescue and search company left Israel. Family members of the missing man were also aboard the plane. Wednesday night, at 1:30 a.m. (local time), the searches concluded as the sea rose again, becoming hazardous for the volunteers. The searches restarted Thursday morning. Numerous volunteers from the local Israeli community and Israeli tourists headed out for foot searches along the beaches and sea, scanning on private jet skis.
