Jerusalem, September 24, 2017 - ZAKA volunteers in Mexico, under the command of Marcus Cain, have recovered the body of Haim Ashkenazi, z”l, from the rubble of the office building in which he was working during the time of the earthquake.  The ZAKA Mexico volunteers have been working continuously together with the Mexican Jewish rescue and recovery organization Cadena since Tuesday (Sept 19), including throughout Rosh Hashana and Shabbat, in accordance with the rulings of Chief Rabbi of Mexico, Rabbi Shlomo Tawil.

ZAKA International Rescue Unit Chief Officer Mati Goldstein: “Immediately after Shabbat went out in Mexico (early morning Israel time), we received an update from our team in Mexico that they had recovered the body of the missing Jewish man. The ZAKA team, which was on the scene at the time the earthquake struck, will remain until we receive an update that there are no more missing people. The team continued to work throughout Rosh Hashana and Shabbat in accordance with a ruling by the Chief Rabbi of Mexico, Rabbi Shlomo Tawil.”

Goldstein added that the ZAKA International Rescue Unit had proved, once again, that regular advance training of the units around the world provides an operational answer in real time.