Ferry Accident in Thailand Kills Israeli on his Honeymoon

A ferry carrying 38 Israelis and 22 other passengers capsized off the coast of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, Tuesday, killing one.

According to Rabbi Nechamya Wilhelm, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bangkok, with whom Nissim Lugassi and his new bride were to spend Shabbat, the 26-year-old native of Acre drowned after being struck by the boat's motor.

Odeliah Lugassi watched helplessly as her husband of only two weeks perished.

Wilhelm arranged for Levi Lugassi, the deceased's father, to fly on Wednesday to Thailand to accompany his son back home for burial. The widow spent Tuesday night with the body and was expected to travel back to Israel with her father-in-law on Thursday, said the rabbi.

Adam Bardichifsky of Kibbutz Ner Yitzchak, was also injured when his foot got caught in the motor that struck Lugassi. Emergency services transported him to a hospital in Phuket, where doctors were able to reconstruct his foot and leg, thereby saving the limb. His girlfriend spent the night at the Chabad House.

Wilhelm spent the remainder of Tuesday and Wednesday attending the other Israelis, most of whom were injured in the accident, and fielding calls from their concerned families.

"They are all in trauma," said Wilhelm. "They all went through a very difficult situation."