Tragedy in the Chernobyl yardRabbi Akiva Rand, the late, was killed today (Wednesday), at the age of 29, in a fatal car accident in Chisinau, Moldova.
The late Rabbi Yechiel Heshil Makrylovitz traveled to Moldova to visit the tomb of Rabbi Yechiel Heshil Makrylovitz, grandson of the 'Apta Rav' and son-in-law of Rabbi Yehoshua of Belza - whose Yahrzeit falls today - who lies buried in the ancient cemetery in Chisinau.
The deceased was driving a car, and in a self-inflicted accident he fell into a wadi on the side of the road. Friends who were with him in the car were evacuated to a local hospital.
Local police are investigating the circumstances of the fatal accident.
The late Rabbi was born in London to his father, Rabbi Mordechai David Rand, one of the most prominent Chernobyl Hasidim, and his mother, a Feldman.
In his youth, he studied at the Chernobyl Yeshiva.
When he reached his peak, he married his wife, the daughter of the great Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Weiss, the rabbi of the 'Mechizkei Hadat' congregation in Zurich.
After his marriage, he established his home in Jerusalem, where he studied at the 'Nachalat Akiva' kollel. He also studied with young men at the 'Kochav Mi'yaakov' yeshiva in Tzevin.
He left behind his parents, his wife, and two young orphaned children.
The ZAKA organization is working to bring his coffin for burial in Israel.
Baruch Nidam, director of the international division at ZAKA, said: "Immediately upon receiving the report, the ZAKA international division team arrived at the scene. At the scene, they located a crushed vehicle in the wadi, and they immediately began to deal with the dignity of the deceased and with the local authorities in order to release the deceased in preparation for a flight to Israel for further burial and funeral.".
