Israel
Nepal authorities end search for survivors
ANT KATZ
Nepalese officials announced on Sunday that rescue teams had concluded the search for trekkers who had survived the deadly blizzard, as local authorities began to focus their search on retrieving the bodies of hikers buried under the mounds of snow, the BBC has just reported.
RIGHT: Israeli hiker Michal Cherkasky is one of those still missing
The three Israelis who died and the seven injured in last week’s massive avalanche in Nepal arrived in Israel early this morning (Sunday).
The deceased are: Agam Luria, Nadav Shoham and Tamar Ariel (the first Israeli dati (religious) woman to become an Israeli Air Force combat navigator.
So far, 25 of the fatalities have been identified, including those from Canada, India, Israel, Slovakia, Poland and Japan.
Eight of the dead were Nepalese. Thirteen others have not yet been identified.
Most of the people were on or near the Annapurna Circuit, a 220 kilometer trail through the mountain, the 10th highest in the world. The biggest number of casualties was among those caught in the blizzard on Thorong La pass, which is one of the highest points on the Annapurna.
SEE EXCLUSIVE PICS FROM THIS MORNING AS
SURVIVORS SHED TEARS OF JOY AT BEING HOME
Hundreds of trekkers who had been stuck in the snow have been brought to safety in the past few days, and government official Yama Bahadur Chokhyal said earlier Sunday rescue helicopters were winding down flights.
As the weather cleared, new climbers were already making their way up the same trail despite obvious dangers, prompting the government to close the route, Chokhyal said.
“Our rescuers and helicopters ended up having to bring down these new people while we were still trying to reach the ones who were stranded by the blizzard,” he said.
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