HUNDREDS Of People Were Trapped On Mount Everest After Heavy Snow Over The Weekend, According To The Chinese Authorities, Prompting A Closure Of The Scenic Area During A National Holiday That Had Drawn Large Numbers Of Tourists To The Site.
The Local Government Of Shigatse, A City In Tibet That Includes The Chinese Side Of Mount Everest, Said In An Announcement On Sunday Night That Rescue Workers Were In Touch With The Stranded Hikers, And That They Had Sufficient Supplies, Without Saying For How Long. It Did Not Specify How Many People Were Still On The Mountain Either. (Mount Everest Is On The Border Of China And Nepal, And The Eastern Slopes Are In Tibet.)
China’s Central Broadcaster Reported On Sunday That 350 People Had Arrived Safely At A Rescue Point In The Town Of Qudang In Tibet, And That Over 200 Others Were On Their Way There. Reached By Phone On Monday, Staff Members At Several Local Tourism Authorities Said They Were Unclear About The State Of The Rescue Operation.
Footage Obtained By Reuters Showed A Line Of Hikers Trekking Through The Snow On Sunday, With Apparently Poor Visibility As Snow Continued To Fall. Another Video Filmed From Inside A Tent, Showed That The Tent’s Ropes Were Partly Buried.