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.
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.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem; Editing by Alison Williams)
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