A large group of Israelis has been rescued from the village of Samdu in Nepal after they became trapped in a ferocious Himalayas snowstorm, Hebrew media reported Wednesday, as the Nepali and Chinese sides of the Everest region were both closed to tourism due to the inclement conditions.

The Israelis were taken from Samdu to the nearby village of Samagaun, which is at a lower altitude, the Walla news site reported.

One of the trekkers required urgent evacuation by helicopter to the town of Lukla for medical treatment.

Another trekker, Yair Liberman, told the Kan public broadcaster that they were hiking when they realized they would be unable to go any further due to the weather.

“At some point we realized we didn’t understand where the route was. There were about 150 travelers stuck in a line. There was panic, the storm was getting stronger and people left their bags behind. It could have ended much worse,” he said.

With the weather unlikely to improve before Sunday, Liberman said they were waiting to be extracted from the area. A number of the travelers were suffering altitude sickness or were in pain after the difficult climb, Kan reported.

קבוצת ישראלים גדולה נתקעה בסופת........

© The Times of Israel