More than 100 Israeli families are anxiously awaiting good news from their children trekking in Nepal and out of communication following the deadly earthquake that has claimed 3,300 lives.
The death toll continues to rise as more bodies are found.
“Ron S.” told Israeli radio morning he has not heard from his 28-year-old son since the disaster struck. Communications systems have collapsed, and those still alive and stranded have to cope with lack of food and clean water.
Israel was one of the first countries to expedite search and rescue teams to Nepal, and the first flights of Israelis landed at Ben Gurion Airport last night.
Foreign Ministry spokesmen said that they are making every effort to locate missing Israelis. Avalanches from Mount Everest have severely hampered search missions.
At least 18 climbers were killed on Mount Everest, including Google executive Daniel Fredinburg.
Several villages were completely buried under debris.
One of the survivors, Carsten Pederson, told CNN, “[People] were trying to outrun the avalanche and you cannot. So many people were hit from behind, blown off the mountain, blown into rocks, hit by debris, tents were flying off.”
The IDF sent a 260-member team, including reservists, to Nepal Sunday night with approximately 95 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies and a medical staff of 122 doctors, nurses and paramedics.
Commander of the Search and Rescue Corps Col. Yarom Laredo, who heads the missions, said, “We will be making two main efforts – search and rescue; we will be finding people trapped under the rubble, and 12 hours later we will begin operating a field hospital… This is a large, high-end delegation with a considerable staff, including the 40 doctors and nurses of the field hospital… The delegation will be flying in two aircrafts, and transporting about 90 tons of equipment.”
Below is a dramatic YouTube video taken on Mount Everest as the earthquake occurred. The video was posted on Sunday and already has more than 3.6 million views.