An Israeli tour guide leading a group of Israeli tourists in Jordan was seriously injured on Friday as the group hiked through the Wadi Rum desert in southern Jordan.

While ascending the Jebel Rum mountain, the tour leader slipped and fell, suffering serious injuries which left him unable to move.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry was contacted, and arrangements were made for a helicopter rescue. Jordanian rescue teams were unable, however, to land in the mountainous terrain at night, forcing them to scrap the operation.

Given the man’s condition, his fellow hikers were unable to move him to a more accessible area for extraction, and the group was forced to spend the night caring for the guide.

On Saturday, a second rescue attempt successfully retrieved the man, who was then transferred to Israeli care and brought to the Yoseftal hospital in Eilat.