About 290 Israelis in India couldn't be reached and were being tracked down in India on Wednesday amid stormy weather and flooding, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Israelis Abroad Department in the Foreign Ministry received multiple inquiries on Tuesday about Israeli relatives in India whose location was unknown.
Deputy ambassador Ohad Nakash Kaynar traveled by helicopter to the area affected by the storms on Wednesday in order to contact Israeli tourists in the area.
"The Foreign Ministry has entered a special operations format in light of the severe weather in northern India. I have instructed the director general of the ministry to allocate whatever resources are required to ensure the safety of all Israeli travelers in the area and to update their families on their condition as soon as possible. A senior representative from our embassy in India will arrive on the ground to help the local forces contact the travelers from Israel. This is another example of the Foreign Ministry's activity in Israel and around the world for the sake of the citizens of Israel."
The Foreign Ministry estimated on Wednesday afternoon that it would able to contact many of the disconnected Israelis within a matter of hours.
Attempts were being made to reach the Israelis and check if they were okay. The PassportCard company announced that it was sending a rescue team to northern India in cooperation with MAGNUS Search and Rescue and has opened a hotline for families to travelers.
PassportCard stressed that there are no known Israeli casualties and it seems that the reason contact was lost is due to service downages in the area.
A message from the Israeli Embassy in India called on Israelis in the country to be careful and listen to authorities while the dangerous weather prevailed.
At least 22 people killed in stormy weather
Torrential rain across northern India has killed at least 22 people, as well as causing landslides and flash floods in the region, authorities and local media said on Monday.
Schools in New Delhi were closed after heavy rains lashed the national capital over the weekend, and authorities in the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand asked people not to venture out of their homes unless necessary.
At least 22 people died in floods and landslides in the northern states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab on Sunday, the Times of India newspaper reported.
In the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, flash floods over the weekend brought down a bridge and swept away several hutments. Authorities used helicopters to rescue people stranded on roads and bridges because of the rain, footage from Reuters partner ANI showed.
Streets across the northern states, including in Punjab, Delhi and Uttarakhand were flooded. In some areas, rescue personnel used rubber rafts to rescue people stranded inside their homes, local media said.
Many districts in Himachal Pradesh received a month’s rainfall in a day at the weekend, said a senior weather department official.
Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have received 112%, 100% and 70% more rainfall than average so far in the current monsoon season that started on June 1, according to the department.
Thousands of people were evacuated due to rising water levels from the Yamuna River in Delhi, with the river rising higher than it has in the past 45 years.