(photo: Ben Hartman)
By Tovah Lazaroff - April 27, 2015
Originally appeared here in The Jerusalem Post
Two planes that carried Israelis rescued from the earthquake in Nepal landed in Israel on Monday.
Five other flights flew to Kathmandu on Monday with Israeli rescue teams, IDF soldiers and medical personnel to help Nepal, which is still devastated by the 7.9 magnitude quake that struck on Saturday, killing over 3,300 people. Since then additional damage has been caused by a series of after shocks.
A small IAF plane was the first carrier to arrive back in Israel from Nepal. It landed at a military base early Monday. On board were a number of wounded Israelis and premature babies of Israeli parents who were born to surrogate Nepalese mothers.
A Magen David Adom plane with five more babies born to surrogate mothers and their Israeli families landed at Sde Dov Airport at noon on Monday. Over a dozen such babies still need to be airlifted home.
Three IAF Hercules planes left for Nepal on Monday as did two El Al jumbo jets with missions jointly organized by the IDF and the Foreign Ministry.
The large carriers with 260 personnel on board also transported 95 tons of equipment including a field hospital with a ward for premature babies. Rescuers brought with them cutting equipment, electronic devices to help find victims trapped under the rubble, generators, lighting equipment, and more. Read More