BEIJING (AP) – About 900 hikers, guides and other staff stranded by a weekend snowstorm on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have reached safety, state media said late Tuesday.
Severe storms pounded the region Saturday night, cutting off access to where hikers were staying in tents at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).
In all, 580 hikers and more than 300 guides, yak herdsmen and other workers were stranded. About 350 hikers were able to descend by midday Monday, and the rest had arrived by Tuesday, state media said, citing local authorities.
Some hikers reportedly suffered from hypothermia, and the official Xinhua news agency said dozens of them were escorted to the meeting point by teams with food, medicine, heating and oxygen supplies.
The scenic area of Mount Everest in the Tibetan region of China is temporarily closed. The world’s highest peak, at 8,850 meters (29,000 feet), straddles the border with Nepal.
The storm struck during a weeklong holiday ending Wednesday. Many Chinese tourists are traveling at home and abroad during the holidays, marking the anniversary of the start of Communist rule in China on October 1, 1949.
In Nepal, a South Korean climber died in a weekend storm near the summit of Mera Peak, a 6,476-meter (21,250-foot) Himalayan mountain south of Everest.
Early-season snowstorms hit at least two other parts of western China over the weekend, killing one person on an icy and snowy highway near a scenic hiking spot.
More than 200 people have been evacuated from remote areas and steep valleys in the Qilian Mountains in Qingdao province. One person died from hypothermia and altitude sickness.
The area is undeveloped, and authorities later warned people against entering without permits, citing difficult terrain, unpredictable weather, and an average altitude of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).
In northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, the Kanas scenic area was closed Sunday after a snowstorm left motorists stranded on a nearby highway. State media said the road had been cleared by Monday.
