In an unfortunate incident, five Israeli diamond industry members lost their lives in a plane crash in Windhoek, Namibia, two days ago. They were headed towards the north of Namibia, for a short weekend safari, when the plane crashed on take off. The local pilot too did not survive.

Ernest Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and WFDB Secretary General Michael Vaughan, have in a statement released, said that they are shocked and saddened by the tragic. They wrote, “We offer our condolences to the families of Shlomo Zilberberg, Shmuel Tzuri (Zigdon), Amit Cohen, Ilan Adadi and Avichai Avaro, who lost their lives in this tragic accident. The international diamond community always cares for the welfare of its members and in times of a disaster of this proportion bows its head in mourning with the families and the Israeli diamond business community.” Reportedly, all the Israeli men, some of them members of the Israel Diamond Exchange, were employed by a local diamond company named Nam-Gem.