Search and rescue teams Thursday night saved an eight-year-old boy who had been swept almost three kilometers into the Dead Sea. The search took five hours for the boy, who is said to have recited Psalms while considering swimming to the mountains in the distance.

Shneur Zalman Friedman, from Jerusalem, was swimming with his father and brother at the Neveh Midbar Beach, which was open at that time for ultra-Orthodox men and boys only. A number of fathers and sons were swimming.

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When the other boys came out of the water, Shneur Zalman's father saw he was not with them. But it took time for the group to realize the boy was missing, and it was dark by the time the Megilot and Ein Gedi search and rescue teams were called in.

"We set out in our boats, and a north wind was blowing. It was clear to us that he had been swept out, but that if he had not swallowed water, we could save him," said Mano Barak, head of the Ein Gedi search and rescue unit.

Barak said the searchers used satellite equipment that allowed them to widen the operation without going over the same place twice. At 1 A.M., they saw the boy's head bobbing in the dark water. Barak said the boy was in shock and did not speak when they pulled him into the boat. "When we reached the beach, everyone applauded with relief and joy."

"It was a miracle," said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav of the Zaka search and rescue squad, which also participated in the search. "I think our hysteria as we searched the beach was greater than the boy's."

Meshi-Zahav, who accompanied the boy and his parents to the hospital Friday for tests, said "the boy said he suddenly found himself alone and being swept into the water. He shouted 'help' but there was no one around him. He remembered that he shouldn't drink the water, and made sure to keep his mouth closed. He also said that at certain points he even tried to reach the mountains he saw in the distance, which he thought were close."

Meshi-Zahav added that the boy recited Psalms and other verses he knew by heart.

Mano Barak of the Ein Gedi rescue unit warned of the risk of being swept out while swimming in the Dead Sea, and said it is complex and expensive to operate boats in the water there. The service is funded by the Tamar regional council.