A week after a deadly avalanche in the Himalayas claimed the lives of four Israelis, tragedy struck in Nepal once again when an overcrowded bus tipped over a cliff and killed 14 on Friday, including Israeli tourists Omer Shemesh and Shira Dabush. "My beautiful partner, my best friend, my soulmate. I want to wake up from this horrible nightmare and have you be back here with me," Omer's boyfriend Eyal Ankur, who traveled with her, wrote from his hospital bed in Katmandu. "I have so much more to tell you, so many more things to do and experience with you. I am lying here in the hospital and tears will not stop running. You are always in my heart. I am forever yours," he wrote. Eyal, who himself was injured in the accident and was missing for a short period, wrote to Omer's family and friends: "I am sorry I did not protect her. I want to go home." Omer, 21, from Hod Hasharon, studied at an art school in Naveh Neeman and had served as a commander at Israeli Air Force base Ovda near Eilat. Friends and family gathered at the Shemesh residence and shared stories about the girl who became a tragic victim of bad fortune. "I was supposed to meet in her in Nepal in 19 days," friend Naama said. "She was supposed to wait for me at the airport. After what happened in Annapurna, I told her I was scared to come and that something bad would happen to me or she would be sick there. But she just calmed me down and said 'after surviving Annapurna. There is nothing left to worry about it. Come.' Now I am haunted by those words." "We were very worried when we heard about the avalanche," family member David Winkler said. "And now only three days after she told us everything was OK, this happened." Another friend recounted the loving relationship Omer had with Eyal. "They shared an incredible love for five months. Even during a family trip she said she missed him. Eyal was already in Asia traveling with a friend when she joined him there. He asked her to, said he missed her. She said 'What, I'll ruin his trip-' And immediately began working out flight details. She counted the hours, minutes and seconds until she would see Eyal and was overjoyed when she did. She did not care that she was going alone. He traveled 13 hours to meet her at the airport. She sent us a picture right after they met. They traveled together in India and from there to Nepal." Omer left behind parents Ayelet and Yaron, sister Lior, 19, and brother Noam, 5. The date of her funeral will be set upon the return of her remains to Israel. Dr. Shira Dabush, 30, from Ramat Gan was the other Israeli victim of Friday's bus crash. Shira was a gifted musician who studied classical music, sang, and played piano and accordion. She decided to study medicine after high school and made dean's list at Ben Gurion-University. She did her residency at Emek Medical Center in Afula and lived in Nir Yafeh. Colleagues at the hospital were shocked to hear of Shira's death, and described her as a professional doctor and a woman with a permanent smile on her face. "Last year, she did her residency at different departments throughout the hospital," Emek Medical Center spokesperson Merav Moyel-Yahav said. "She completed her residency a month ago and was supposed to begin specializing in family medicine in Tel Aviv. She completed her residency with honors and was supposed to get a certificate recognizing her achievements." Shira traveled to Nepal with partner Yigal. "She spoke a lot about her planned trip to Nepal," residency program director at Emek hospital Aliza Ben-Natan said. "After seven hard years as a resident she eagerly awaited going on this vacation with her boyfriend. Shira was a vital and positive person and was beloved by all those who worked with her." Emek Medical Center staff had hoped that Shira would stay with them, but Shira, an only child who was very close to her mother Ester, decided to return to central Israel to specialize in family medicine. "She was her mother's entire world," Ben-Natan said. "It is hard to grasp such a tragedy, it is terrible." Among the dozens injured in Friday's bus crash was 23-year-old Michal Alroey. Michal's parents, Smadar and Oded, were relieved when she called them from the hospital in Katmandu, having read about the crash and knowing their daughter was in the area. "Mom, I am in the hospital. The bus flipped over but I am OK, I was lightly injured," Michal told them on the phone. A helicopter rented by the Israeli embassy in Nepal arrived at the crash site and extracted Michal, Einav Atias and a wounded Nepalese man and flew them to the hospital in Katmandu. "Michal told us it was a matter of seconds between when she felt the bus swerve and when it fell into the pit," her mother Smadar said. "She saw people fall off the roof of the bus when it begun to tip over. She held her friend Einav extremely tight. People flew out of the windows, there were people screaming, but she managed to pull herself out of the bus and a Nepalese local helped her and Einav get back on the road." "It was only Michal's third day in Nepal, she had planned to hike in the Annapurna region, but in light of the avalanche and harsh weather she changed course to Langtang National Park. From the frying pan into the fire. Michal was saved by a miracle, a true miracle," Smadar said. Einav Atias recounted the bus ride as it turned bad. "The bus was way over packed with people. We thought something was wrong but then were told it was normal, because it is festival season. I do not remember too much from the accident. I lost consciousness when the bus flipped over and over. I remember trying to get out of the bus, and climbing up. People helped us up and took us all to the nearby village and from there to the hospital, it was terrifying." More than 60 people had been on the bus, which plummeted about 100 meters off the road down a steep slope. Police were investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Katmandu. Poor maintenance of roads and vehicles contributes to many accidents in mountainous Nepal. An initial investigation suggested, however, that the bus may have been overcrowded, which could have led to its fall.
