Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries dispatched two rabbinical students on Thursday to Peru's Ica region to assist dozens of Israeli backpackers stranded without food in the wake of the country's deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

With trains and bridges down, Rabbis Moshe Zalman Kaminetzky and Schneur Feigin – the pair are part of the "roving rabbis" program administered by Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the Chabad-Lubavitch education arm that every summer sends teams to isolated communities across the globe – traveled with aid workers leaving from the capital city of Lima.

They knew well where the Israelis were centered, said Kaminetzky, because one week earlier they had swung through Ica on their outreach tour. They arrived to the devastated area with a list of those who had not yet reported to Lima's Chabad Houses or the Israeli embassy, which coordinated the search with the assistance of Chabad.

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"What we found were Israelis and some American Jews who were stuck without electricity, water or food," said Kaminetzky.

The students brought meat, drinks and bread, and distributed leftover food to local Peruvians.

They returned to Rabbi Schneur and Bluma Blumenfeld, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Lima, Friday afternoon with some Israelis in tow.

According to Yosef Lasker, a Peru-based student and assistant to the Blumenfelds, "many of those who were saved in Ica came for the Shabbat Torah reading and made the customary hagomel blessing," referring to the blessing made by one saved from extreme danger.

More to Find

Despite some media reports to the contrary, a handful of Israelis who had been staying in Peru prior to the earthquake remain unaccounted for, said Rabbi Ofer Kripor, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Cuzco, a mountainous region southeast of Lima.

While all of Ica's known Israeli tourists have been found, the search continues for 16 Israelis in Cuzco.

"We are still looking for them, to ensure that all is okay," said Kripor.

On Friday, when the number of missing stood at 77, Kripor and others went from hotel to hotel to inquire about Israelis' whereabouts.

"We kept on impressing upon the survivors how important it was that they contact their parents immediately," said Kripor. "Sitting here alive, it is hard to fully appreciate the dread that parents back home in Israel endure and the feeling of relief they experience upon hearing their children's voices."

At the close of Shabbat, 21 remained missing, but by Sunday morning Kripor had located five.

"The Israeli backpackers are all back to normal and they are continuing on with their journey," Kripor said of those he's found.