Twelve more bodies were recovered in Nepal's central mountains Wednesday, taking the death toll from a heavy snowfall to 16, including three Israelis, according to local authorities.
"We recovered 12 more bodies, out of which eight are Nepalis, one Vietnamese, two Israeli and one Polish," said Baburam Bhandari, the chief officer of Mustang district, where the incident occurred. Earlier, two Poles, one Israeli and a Nepali were confirmed dead by local authorities. Meanwhile, four Israelis, five Germans, four Polish citizens and a Nepali had been rescued, according to Bhandari.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it is still following up reports and is waiting for information from the embassy in Kathmandu, which is in contact with Nepali authorities.
Nearly 170 people were trekking toward the Thorang La pass along the well-travelled Annapurna route Tuesday when the snowstorm hit. Bhandari said 60 people rescued earlier had been admitted to nearby Jomsom Hospital. An unknown number are still missing.
Nepali authorities said some people were still out of contact as bad weather had affected telecommunications, but the number was uncertain. Three yak herders also died in Naar village of Manang district.
Rabbi David Slavin, director of Chabad in Nepal, said that the storm occurred Tuesday afternoon Nepali time, and that currently uncertainty prevails in the region. “We know that approximately 200 Israelis are in the region, the majority of whom have been evacuated, however we still don’t gave an exact number of missing people,” he said. The Chabad House in Nepal has set up a situation room, which has been flooded with phone call from concerned relatives. On Chabad Nepal’s Facebook page, relatives have been posting messages trying to ascertain the whereabouts of their loved ones.
Nepal has experienced bad weather for the last two days, partly caused by Cyclone Hudhud in neighbouring India.
Last week, two Israelis died in a rafting accident on the Apurimac River in Peru.
The accident took place when a group of Israelis set out for a three-day rafting expedition on the Apurimac. According to Hilik Magnes, operations manager at Magnes Search and Rescue International, the group had two rafts – one for the baggage, which also carried a tour guide and two Israeli women, and the second with six Israelis and a guide.
In April, an avalanche sweeping down Mount Everest killed at least 16 Nepali guides, in what was the deadliest single incident on the world's highest peak.
More than 4,000 climbers have scaled the summit since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hundreds of others have died in the attempt.
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