As the hours pass, concern among the hikers is growing while severe weather continues to hamper rescue efforts. Dozens of Israelis are stranded in the village of Samagaun in Nepal’s Manaslu region of the Himalayas after harsh weather triggered rockslides, blocked roads and damaged bridges. The hikers fear conditions could deteriorate further and are calling for their evacuation to be accelerated.
“There are landslides here every few hours, right over our heads. There’s no need to wait for a disaster to happen,” one Israeli woman told ynet.
Dozens of Israelis stranded in Samagaun village in Nepal due to extreme weather
“There is no electricity and there have been rockslides near us," another Israeli said. "Our lives were saved by a miracle. We have no way to go back or move forward because bridges have collapsed and roads are blocked. There is a real danger to life here. Any additional landslide could cause flooding and destroy the village we are in. In this situation, our ability to escape or be rescued is almost nonexistent, and there is no real protection here if conditions deteriorate further.”
He said the hikers contacted their insurance company but were told that, at this stage, not everyone could be evacuated.
“Until now we have followed the instructions of the local agencies and acted accordingly, but we are very worried and afraid to stay here another night. We are pleading with everyone not to wait until there are casualties or missing people before the situation gets attention. We are not asking anyone to wait for a disaster before acting. We are asking for help now, while it is still possible to evacuate us safely.”
Dana Zarnitzky, 54, who is also awaiting evacuation, said: “We are two groups, one of four people and one of five. We arrived in Samagaun on Friday for an acclimatization day, and since then our route has come to a halt and we have been stuck because of insane weather.
“The situation worsened overnight, when rockslides began coming down from the mountains surrounding the valley. These landslides happen once every few hours and they are very dangerous because they can carry large amounts of snow and water with them and flood the valley.”
Destruction in the village of Samagaun in Nepal’s Manaslu region of the Himalayas
(Photo: Courtesy of PassportCard)
She added: “We are really asking them to speed up our rescue. We contacted the insurance companies in the middle of the night and they have all the required documents. Right now we are OK, but all it takes is one landslide and we will not survive.”
Yarin Tal, 23, who is also stranded in the area, described the fear among both travelers and local residents.
“The locals here are in a total panic. They are extremely worried because of everything that happened with the flood last month. It was like a horror movie here. I don’t think we are going to sleep tonight. Yesterday there were a lot of landslides and there was total hysteria here. We probably won’t sleep at night, we’ll all be on alert with our bags packed.
“We hope to be evacuated from here before dark. I’m afraid a terrible disaster will happen. There are landslides here every few hours, right over our heads. There’s no need to wait for a disaster to happen.”
PassportCard’s situation room said it is assisting dozens of Israeli travelers in several areas affected by the severe weather. According to the company, 17 of its policyholders are in the Annapurna region, 17 are in the Manaslu region, including Samagaun, four are in the Tsum Valley and two are in the Everest region.
Four policyholders require medical attention and are expected to be evacuated for treatment once weather conditions allow. As of now, the company said, none is considered to be in life-threatening condition. The company added that many roads are blocked and movement is severely restricted across large parts of Nepal.
Magnus Search and Rescue said in response: “The Magnus team is working to assist all Israelis stranded in villages in Nepal following landslides and flooding. We are working to evacuate all Israelis according to the urgency of their situation and condition. The weather conditions are certainly creating complications, but today a window of opportunity opened that allowed us to begin evacuations, and we will continue working until everyone reaches safety.”
Extreme weather has affected wide areas of Nepal in recent days. According to AFP, at least 10 climbers and guides, all Nepalese nationals, are missing after an avalanche struck the base camp of Mount Himlung before dawn. The peak, near the Tibetan border, rises to 7,126 meters.
Two helicopters and a rescue team were placed on standby, but weather conditions prevented them from taking off.
That incident is separate from the situation involving the Israelis, but heavy snow has also fallen in the Manaslu region in recent days and climbing expeditions there have been suspended. Expeditions on Mount Dhaulagiri have also been halted, while heavy rains across Nepal since Thursday have triggered landslides and blocked roads in various parts of the country.
Iris Lifshitz-Kliger contributed to this report.