Everest tourists aimed at safety after being stuck by Blizzard

A total of 580 tourists who have been caught from hard weather near Mount Everest have been aimed at safety in Tibet, according to Chinese state media.

The trackers arrived in the small town of Kudang and the surrounding areas, along with 300 local drivers, Yak manipulators and other maintenance staff, CCTV reported on Tuesday.

A final group of about 10 tourists, accompanied by rescue workers, is yet to reach Qudang, but has reached a point of the meeting, which has heating equipment, oxygen and other emergency supplies.

Tourists sat down at an altitude of over 4,900 m (16,000 feet) after heavy snowfall blocked its route up the eastern slopes of Everest over the weekend.

Blizzard hit during the eight -day Golden Week vacation in China, peak season for local tourism.

October usually provides a clear sky and friendly temperatures, which makes it one of the preferred months to increase in the Mount Everest Mountain.

Hundreds of tourists made their way to the pedestrian path of the Karma Valley, a less famous but picturesque route to the base of Everest -which also offers views of the highest peak in the world.

The heavy snowfall began on Friday night, increasing over the weekend, grabbing mountain guides aside.

A hike that has visited the Himalayas more than a dozen times has told the BBC that he has never experienced time like this. “

The 27 -year -old Dong Shuchang said several people in his group of 20 showed signs of hypothermia.

Chen Geshuang, who was part of G -Dong Dong’s pedestrian group, said the snow was a meter deep when the group began its retreat on Sunday.

“We are all experienced tourists,” said G -Jong. “But this blizzard was still extremely difficult to deal with. I was so lucky that I went out.”

Police, firefighters and hundreds of local Tibetan volunteers were mobilized for rescue efforts.

Another woman told the BBC that her husband, who had been stuck in the storm, barely slept in her tent because she was afraid of being buried in the snow.

Eric Ven told Reuters that three people in his group suffer from hypothermia, although they were adequately dressed.

They hardly slept because it was snowing too hard and his group had to clear the snow every 10 minutes.

“Otherwise, our tents would collapse,” he added.

In a separate mountain region in Western China, Kinghai province, a tourist dies of hypothermia and height disease, while 137 others are evacuated, CCTV said.

The adjacent Nepal, south of Tibet, was also battered by torrential rains, causing heavy floods and landslides that killed more than 50 people.