The nearly nine hundred hikers, tourists, and guides who were snowed in on the east side of Mount Everest have been brought to safety. Hundreds of rescuers and villagers came to the rescue.
A snowstorm had blocked the roads to and from overnight stays on the Tibetan side of the world’s highest mountain. People were stuck at an altitude of about 5 kilometers.
There were 580 hikers and about 300 guides and yak herders stuck. On Sunday, 350 hikers had already been brought to safety. In recent days, the others have also descended to the village of Qudang and surrounding shelters.
Many people had become hypothermic, one of the snowed-in hikers told BBC News . Another hiker reported that the snow cover was about a meter thick when his group began the descent.
Police officers, firefighters and hundreds of Tibetan volunteers were called in for the rescue operation. Among other things, they helped make the roads passable.
Snowstorm unusual in October
The snowstorm started on Friday evening and continued over the weekend. Since Saturday evening, people have been denied access to the area and ticket sales have been suspended.
A guide said earlier that a heavy snowstorm in October is unusual. Normally there are blue skies and pleasant temperatures in that month, which makes it a popular time to climb the mountain. The guides were therefore surprised by the weather.
The snowstorm came during Golden Week, a national holiday week in China. Many Chinese go out in their own country during that week.