Hiker Dies, 8 Injured in Nepal Crash

YnetNews.com reports:

A young Israeli woman was killed and 8 other hikers were lightly injured on Sunday when their jeep overturned several times and fell into a canyon near the Annapurna massif in Nepal.

The hikers sent out a distress call via satellite phone to the international search and rescue company Magnus. Their location was tracked via satellite and rescue forces were sent to the Khayer Tal area to their aid.

Before rescuers arrived, some of the lightly injured hikers were able to make their way to a nearby village, from where they called for help again.

Israel’s consul in the area also arrived at the scene to offer assistance, as well as Chabad emissary to Kathmandu Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz, Abhishesh Subedi from flyeastNepal, and representatives from Magnus.

They spent the night with the injured and aided in their transfer to the hospital in Kathmandu.

One of the hikers, 26-year-old Vered Aviyashar, originally from Kibbutz Ein HaNetziv, was seriously hurt in the crash and later succumbed to her injuries.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was working on bringing her body back home to Israel for burial.

“Vered, my sister, my love, beloved by all, has gone from us,” her sister Sigal wrote in an emotional Facebook post. “I don’t write here much, but now, after this unbearably difficult night, and ahead of long and painful days, I wish to tell you a bit about her light: How she was happy and simple, witty and sharp. How much she loved both man and nature, how beautifully she sang and played on anything she could. How direct and real she was, how funny she was doing impersonations, how she was a great friend, how much she cared about her family and was in love with her nephews, how she loved life and how little life she had.”