Cuzco, Peru — Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Peru are working around the clock to locate 150 Israeli backpackers following a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake Wednesday night that left more than 450 people dead and at least 1,500 injured.
150 Israeli Backpackers Left Unaccounted For Following Peru Quake
Cuzco, Peru — Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Peru are working around the clock to locate 150 Israeli backpackers following a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake Wednesday night that left more than 450 people dead and at least 1,500 injured.
Rabbi Ofer and Yael Kripor, co-directors of the Chabad House in Cuzco, Peru, a mountainous region in the country’s southeast, received a list from the Israeli embassy in Lima, an 18-hour drive away, of backpackers who had not called home. The rabbi has been checking in with hotels and hostels, while his wife works the phones.
According to Yael Kripor, many Israel come to Peru after their army service for either their first or last stop in trekking across South America. Most on their way out are usually gone by mid-August; the next wave normally doesn’t arrive until around Rosh Hashanah.
“Now everything is relatively empty,” reported Kripor. “If this earthquake had hit a couple of months ago, G-d forbid, hundreds of Israelis could have been hurt.”
A fan of G-d
I spent two weeks in Cuzco, Peru. It’s one of the coolest places I’ve been to. There are guest houses all over the place and at least one Israeli restaurant/hang out when I was there 3 years ago. I hope all these guys are OK!