President Shimon Peres today said that R’ Menashe Klipa, the yungerman who jumped in a Yerushalayim gas-filled manhole on Wednesday in an attempt to rescue three-year-old Rochel Sofer, a “real hero,” and said his act was “an example of civilian behavior of the highest order.” Peres spoke with the wife of R’ Menashe, who is hospitalized in serious but stable condition, telling her that “we are all watching his condition with concern.”
As first reported here on Matzav.com, Rochel Sofer was being watched by a babysitter, when she fell into a manhole and inhaled toxic gas emitted from the manhole. R’ Menashe Klipa who passed by heard the girl’s mother screaming and saw that the girl had fallen into a manhole. He extricated her, but then he himself fell in and felt burning sensations on his skin. Zaka arrived at the scene and began doing CPR on Rochel.
Fire crews arrived with special gas masks and were able to extract R’ Menashe from the hole. The 42-year-old yungerman passed out and was taken in serious condition to Hadassah Ein Kerem.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
