Nepal storm victims laid to rest
Tamar Ariel, the first Orthodox female navigator in the IAF, killed by an avalanche in the Himalayas laid to rest; Israeli Agam Luria also laid to rest.
Tamar Ariel, who was killed by an avalanche last week in Nepal, was laid to rest Tuesday in the Masu'ot Yitzhak cemetery. Hundreds of Israelis paid their final respects, as six IAF pilots carried her coffin.
The tragedy on the Annapurna Pass had claimed the lives of Agam Luria, who was also laid to rest on Tuesday, Nadav Shoham, and Michal Gili Charkesky. Some 40 other hikers were killed in the storm.
Several members of the tragic hiking expedition were present at the service, including Shani and Eitan, who spoke painfully about being forced to leave Tamar behind.
In his eulogy, her father Hanan recalled his pride the day Tamar graduated from flight school. "At her graduation, the commander approached me and asked: 'Tell me, how do you make a kid like that? What's the recipe for such children?'"
Tamar, the daughter of Anat and Hanan, was the third of six children. After two years of National Service, an alternative service that takes the place of army service, Tamar decided to continue to IDF service, and became the first Orthodox female Israeli Air Force navigator.
Her brother, Matan, spoke of his sister's generosity at the funeral. "How do we say goodbye to a big sister? You taught us how to make the most of life. Everywhere you went you gave your all."
During her military service, she survived a plane crash, during which she injured her back.
Her aunt Neta remembered the family watching Tamar at her flight school graduation in December 2012. "We were overjoyed, bursting with pride. You lived 25 years so full of life and meaning. You reached as high as possible but always, always stayed humble. You were a trailblazer, an example and a beacon to so many religious and secular people."
Nepal: 43 killed
Rescuers on Tuesday pulled out three bodies of Nepali citizens killed in last week's freak blizzards and avalanches, taking the toll in the Himalayan nation's worst trekking disaster to 43.
The blizzards struck the Annapurna Circuit, a trail popular among Western hikers who walk around Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world and caught the tourists during the peak hiking season.
"Three new bodies were taken out from snow near Thorongla pass on Tuesday," said Baburam Bhandari, chief of Mustang district, the worst among the four districts hit by the blizzards triggered by the tail end of cyclone Hudhud that struck India this month.
Officials said 518 people including 304 foreign trekkers were rescued in the operation in which more than 70 sorties were made by army and civilian helicopters.
"This is the biggest rescue operation ever conducted in high Himalayan snow and difficult mountain slopes," said D.B. Koirala, chief of the Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal.
