by Avi Cohen and Israel Hayom Staff
Five Israeli planes carrying a 260-member relief team and 95 tons of supplies, including operating rooms, X-ray machines and laboratories, fly to quake-battered Kathmandu • Hospital to start treating patients Tuesday • 50 Israelis yet to make contact.
IDF soldiers board a
military aircraft en route to providing assistance in Nepal
|
Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit  |
An Israel Defense Forces delegation,
accompanied by a medical team, landed in Kathmandu, the disaster struck
capital of Nepal, on Tuesday and immediately began setting up a field
hospital adjacent to a military hospital in the city. The Israeli field
hospital was expected to begin treating patients as early as later on
Tuesday.
Five planes -- two El Al airliners and three
Israel Air Force military aircraft -- transported the Israeli teams to
Nepal and prepared to make the return trip with hundreds of Israeli
survivors. Along with the rescue teams, the planes carried 95 tons of
supplies, including equipment for operating rooms, X-ray machines and
advanced laboratories, which will comprise the main foreign medical
facility to arrive in the area.
For two of the Israeli military aircraft --
Super Hercules C-130J cargo planes -- this was the first operational
mission since arriving in Israel several months ago. The third aircraft
was a Boeing 707.
Since the quake hit on Saturday, killing what
is now estimated to be more than 4,000 people and injuring thousands
more, the U.S., China, India and European countries have all sent aid
and rescue missions as well as medical assistance.
A day earlier, an IAF plane carried a number
of Israeli newborns from the disaster-struck region back to Israel. The
babies had just been born to Nepalese surrogates and their Israeli
parents had yet to take them home to Israel when the quake hit.
The plane's co-pilot told Israel Hayom on
Monday that flying the plane had been a powerful experience. "From far
away, from great height, Nepal looks picturesque. Only when you get
closer do you see the tents and the people clamoring for the airport."
he said.
When the plane neared the Kathmandu airport, a
powerful aftershock jolted the area and as Maj. Nir recounted, "We had
very little fuel. But the head of the rescue team approached us and said
that they would be landing in Kathmandu no matter what. He said that
every second counts and that we must do everything in our power to land.
We told the control tower several times that we were low on fuel, but
there were planes circling in the air that had even less fuel than us.
We waited in the air for an hour and a half, with the added challenge of
thunderstorms, which we are less familiar with in Israel."
"We, as a corps and as an army, are prepared
to go anywhere, in any weather, to rescue and bring Israelis and Jews
home and help countries in distress," he added. "That is our pride in
our people and our country. The main difference between Israel and other
countries is that the rest of the world sends supplies while we send
experts, set up hospitals and provide the locals with solutions to
problems that they cannot solve on their own."
"It was very moving to get the people out of
there," he went on to say. "No one could remain indifferent. There was
not a single dry eye. To travel such a long distance and reach people
whom I don't know, they are not my family, but they are my people. It
was powerful. It was extremely moving to see them reunited with their
families after we landed in Israel."
On Tuesday, two helicopters operated by a
private Israeli insurance company began rescuing Israeli hikers stranded
in remote areas of Nepal. On Monday, four Israelis were rescued from
Mount Everest by helicopter. Meanwhile, an El Al plane carrying 230
Israelis and 15 babies born to Nepalese surrogates made its way to
Israel after taking off before dawn on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Israelis are still stranded in Nepal, and 50
have yet to make contact. The ones who have made contact reported
extremely difficult conditions, and more recently, violence from locals
and struggles over food, water and spots on rescue helicopters.
Avi Cohen and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=25089
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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