One of three Israelis killed in Nepal snowstorm named
23-year-old Agam Luria, from Kibbutz in Galilee, among dead in freak storms that hit Annapurna region; 1 other Israeli still missing. 'He was destined for greatness,' Agam's teacher says.
Israel has identified one of the three Israelis confirmed dead in the freak snowstorms that hit Nepal earlier this week as Agam Luria, 23, from Kibbutz Yifat in the Galilee.
Agam and two others were killed, the Foreign Ministry said, and one other Israeli is still unaccounted for in the blizzards that left at least 27 people dead.
Luria began his trip in May this year, and since then has visited Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Nepal. He was born and raised in Kibbutz Yifat and is the youngest of three brothers.
About 70 people were still missing along or near the popular Annapurna trail, and the death toll there was expected to rise, AP reported.
On Wednesday, Luria's sister, Ilil, published a plea for help on Facebook: "We are looking for information on my brother Agam Luria who is trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal and we haven't heard from him since (Saturday). We are very concerned in light of the reports on the avalanche. Please share or send us any information you have (from friends traveling in the area). Thank you!"
On Thursday afternoon, the family was informed of his death.
Agam Luria lost his father, Yossi, who died from a severe illness four years ago. He graduated from "Ha'emek Hama'arvi Yifat" highschool and served in the IDF Recruitment Center in Haifa. Agam is survived by his mother, Vered, a lecturer at the Oranim Academic college, and brothers, Shahaf and Ilil. Residents of his kibbutz said that Agam loved to travel. "He was an amazing guy," one of his friends said.
Ronit Markowic-Wolfin, Agam's high school teacher, said that he "was destined for greatness."
"From the age of 15, he knew how to speak his mind in a respectable manner. He was a leader that everyone rallied around and listened to. He had a unique laugh and bright eyes. He was very witty, with a big heart," Markowic-Wolfin said.
Boaz Rand from Haifa, a friend of Agam, served in the army with him and traveled with him for two months in Vietnam and Cambodia half a year ago. "You could learn about his character from his behavior during our trip," Rand said.
"If we had to pick between two travel routes, he would tell me 'you choose, whatever makes you happy.' He was the kind of person you would consult with about the most serious things. He was the epitome of friendship. I know this sounds like the things people say after someone dies, but in Agam's case, we said it while he was still alive."
Nepal blizzard, avalanche death toll rises to 27
Search teams in army helicopters rescued dozens of stranded foreign trekkers and recovered more bodies of victims of a blizzard and avalanches in Nepal's northern mountains Thursday, raising the death toll to 27.
The route, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Katmandu, was filled with international hikers during the peak October trekking season, when the air is generally clear and cool. There were also many Nepalese on the trails because of local festivals.
Government administrator Yama Bahadur Chokhyal said rescuers recovered 10 more bodies from the Thorong La pass area, where they had been caught in a sudden blizzard Tuesday.
The bodies of two Poles, an Israeli and a Nepalese were recovered from the area on Wednesday.
Chokhyal said 64 more foreign trekkers were rescued from the area on Thursday. Two trekkers from Hong Kong and 12 Israelis were airlifted Wednesday to Katmandu, where they were being treated at a hospital.
They said they survived by taking refuge in a small tea shop along the path.
"I was sure I was going to die on the way to the pass because I lost my group, I lost all the people I was with and I could not see anything," said Linor Kajan, an injured Israeli who said she was stuck in waist-deep snow.
"One Nepalese guide who knows the way saw me and asked me to stay with him. And he dragged me, really dragged me to the tea shop. And everybody there was really frightened," she said.
Another Israeli survivor, Yakov Megreli, said they tried to stay awake in the tea shop to stay warm.
"We tried not to sleep. We tried not to get hypothermia. It was a very frightening and awful situation," he said.
The blizzard, the tail end of a cyclone that hit the Indian coast a few days earlier, appeared to contribute to an avalanche that killed at least eight people in Phu village in neighboring Manang district. The dead included one Indian and four Canadian trekkers as well as three villagers, said government official Devendra Lamichane.
The foreigners' bodies were buried in up to 2 meters (6½ feet) of snow and digging them out will take days, he said. Three Canadian trekkers who survived the avalanche were taken by helicopter to a shelter in a nearby village. No information was immediately available on their condition.
Authorities said five climbers were killed in a separate avalanche about 75 kilometers (45 miles) to the west, at the base camp for Mount Dhaulagiri. The climbers, two Slovaks and three Nepali guides, were preparing to scale the 8,167-meter (26,800-foot) peak, the world's seventh tallest, said Gyanedra Shrestha of Nepal's mountaineering department. Their bodies were recovered Thursday.
An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster on the mountain. Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches in the Himalayas.
Itay Blumenthal and Attila Somfalvi contributed to this report.
