Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Dead Israeli agent flown home after Italy boat accident

Published 31/05/2023, 15:19
Updated 31/05/2023, 15:26
© Reuters. Firefighters search for survivors after a tourist boat capsized in Lake Maggiore, in northern Italy, May 29, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

© Reuters. Firefighters search for survivors after a tourist boat capsized in Lake Maggiore, in northern Italy, May 29, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - The body of a retired Mossad agent was flown back to Israel on Wednesday, three days after he died along with two Italian intelligence officers and a Russian woman in a boating accident in northern Italy.

They had been aboard a pleasure craft, along with 19 other people, when it was hit by a fierce storm on Lake Maggiore on Sunday evening and swiftly sank.

The accident drew widespread attention after Rome acknowledged that two of the dead, Claudio Alonzi, 62, and Tiziana Barnobi, 53, worked for the Italian secret services.

Italian sources also said that the dead Israeli had been a spy, naming him as 50-year-old Erez Shimoni. Israel has declined to reveal his identity and had previously only said that he was a retiree from the security forces.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed on Wednesday that he was a retired member of Mossad, the country's national intelligence agency.

"The Mossad lost a dear friend, a devoted and professional member who dedicated his life to the security of the State of Israel for decades," the office said in a statement.

"Given his service with the agency it is not possible to elaborate on his identity," it added.

The dead Russian was named as Anya Bozhkova, 50. She was the wife of the Italian skipper of the boat, the Good ... uria, which was rented out to tourists for trips around the lake.

Italy's ANSA news agency reported that 13 Israelis and eight Italian had been aboard the boat to celebrate a birthday. However, Il Messaggero newspaper said on Wednesday that the two groups were on a work trip, giving no further information.

Neither Italy nor Israel have commented on the gathering.

No one has suggested foul play in the accident.

© Reuters. Firefighters search for survivors after a tourist boat capsized in Lake Maggiore, in northern Italy, May 29, 2023. Vigili del fuoco/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Magistrates are investigating whether there were more people than permitted aboard the boat and whether it should have been sailing on the lake given the bad weather.

Witnesses have said the storm hit suddenly, packing powerful winds and dumping a huge quantity of rain on the lake.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.