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125 more Israelis rescued from flood-hit villages of Himachal
The Israeli embassy has sent its own team to locate the missing Israeli nationals after last weekend’s rains
With relief operations in full swing in rain-hit Himachal Pradesh, the state government rescued 125 Israeli tourists from Kasol village in Kullu district on Saturday. The operation was carried out after the Israeli embassy sent a communiqué to the state government enquiring about its nationals stranded in flood-hit regions of the state.
The embassy also sent its team to locate its nationals in Manikaran, Parvati Valley and Kasol, which lost road connectivity due to the landslides triggered by the heavy rain last weekend.
Also read: Unplanned infra projects to climate crisis: What ails fragile Himachal, Uttarakhand
State director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu said of the list given, 208 Israel nationals had been contacted and found safe. Several Israelis have moved to Leh, Delhi and Chandigarh since the rains, he said.
The government is ensuring safe return of foreign tourists from France, Tanzania, Russia, Australia, the US, New Zealand, and Italy. After Israelis, the maximum number of tourists are from the US and Russia.
In a coordinated rescue operation that lasted 35 hours, the tourists, who had gone missing after the recent rains, were rescued.
They had no means of communication with their families back home. Alarmed, their family members reached out to the Israeli insurance company, which in turn contacted their agent in Manali.
Sensing the urgency, Praveen Sood, the general secretary of Manali-based Adventure Tour Operators Association, put together a team of 25 individuals and sent them to different locations within a 200-km radius of Manali to conduct a search.
The rescue teams ventured into areas such as Lahaul, Kaza, Parvati Valley, Sangla, Kinnaur, and Manali, employing a range of transportation methods including motorcycles and jeeps. Some stranded tourists were also airlifted to safety.
