Israeli hikers airlifted to safety after dozens trapped by Nepal landslides

Israeli hikers have been airlifted to safety after dozens were left trapped by landslides and flooding during deadly storms in Nepal.

Siblings Maya Lamdan, 27, and Nadav Lamdan, 21, were among those evacuated by helicopter from Samagaun, a remote Himalayan village where landslides blocked routes and left travellers without power.

Dozens of Israelis were caught across popular trekking regions as heavy rain brought floods, landslides and an avalanche to parts of the country.

Travel insurer PassportCard said it was assisting 40 Israelis, including 17 in the Annapurna region and 17 around Manaslu, as well as four in the Tsum Valley and two in the Everest region.

Four required medical attention, although none was believed to be in a life-threatening condition.

Maya and Nadav, from Tzur Hadassah in Israel, were flown to Kathmandu after spending around 12 hours without electricity or heating as temperatures dropped below freezing.

Maya told Israeli news site Walla: “Already after a few days of being stuck in the village, we saw that a rain system was approaching, and we stayed there so that we would be somewhere safe rather than continuing the trek. But the last 24 hours were far beyond what we expected.”

She said the group was asleep at around 3am when someone knocked on their door and told them to climb on the roof because a flood was coming.

They discovered the following morning that two landslides had struck nearby.

“All the locals started running from the village toward the hills with headlamps. There was real panic, if you can even call them streets,” Maya said.

“We waited on the roof and tried to understand what was happening. It was dark, and it wasn’t clear how close it was. Throughout the day, there were another three or four smaller landslides. We were literally surrounded by this event 360 degrees.”

At least ten other Israelis were staying in the village at the time, according to Maya.

“At least physically, we’re all healthy and safe. Mentally, it will take us a little time to recover,” she said. “There was an insane sense of helplessness and anxiety that hit some of the people, especially at night.”

Clal Insurance and Finance was separately assisting ten Israelis caught in the extreme weather, with three evacuated to Kathmandu and rescue efforts under way for the remaining seven, according to Israeli media.

At least 21 people were killed and five remained missing following weather-related incidents across Nepal between Thursday and Sunday, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

A separate avalanche on Himlung Himal killed at least four Nepali workers, with another 12 missing. Ten people were rescued as search teams returned to the mountain following an improvement in conditions.

The latest emergency comes barely a month after catastrophic flooding devastated Nepal, killing more than 1,450 people and leaving thousands missing.

Israeli humanitarian organisation NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief said on Tuesday that volunteer teams had now returned to Israel after helping communities affected by that earlier disaster.

Doctors and emergency physicians opened clinics in displacement camps and remote communities, treating hundreds of people for injuries, infections, dehydration and chronic conditions.

The organisation also trained dozens of local social workers in trauma-informed care, psychological first aid and community support, allowing support to continue after the Israeli volunteers left.

Gil Reines, chair of NATAN’s board, said: “What stayed with us in Nepal is how much it mattered to people simply that someone came.

“Our professional volunteers gave everything they had, but the real measure of this mission is what happens now. The social workers we trained know these communities from the inside, and they will be there long after any international team could be.”