Rescue efforts continue for hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest who were trapped by an unusually heavy snowstorm during a busy tourist season on the world’s tallest mountain.
Chinese state media reported on Sunday that 350 hikers had made it safely to a rescue point in Qudang, a small township in Tibet, while contact had been made with more than 200 others still stranded. Reuters reported that the remaining hikers were expected to be evacuated by Tuesday.
Some of the rescued hikers were treated for hypothermia, according to local media reports. But no deaths or injuries have been reported.
The snow began late Friday evening, blanketing campsites at an elevation of 16,000 feet along Everest’s eastern slope.
A screengrab from a video shows hikers leaving their campsite on Sunday. (Chen Geshuang via Reuters)
Videos posted to social media showed people trekking through heavy snow as well as footage from inside a tent partially buried by snow.
Chen Geshuang, one of the hikers who arrived safely in Qudan, told NBC News on Sunday that it was “a nerve-wracking night” on the mountain.
“When we woke up this morning, the snow was extremely deep — about one meter, reaching up to our thighs,” she said.
Villagers ascend the mountain during rescue efforts to reach hundreds of hikers trapped by heavy snow at tourist campsites. (Lingsuiye via AP)
Eric Wen, another hiker, told Reuters that his group had to clear the snow from their tents every 10 minutes.
“Otherwise our tents would have collapsed,” he said.
Mount Everest sits on the border between China and Nepal, where flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have left more than 40 people dead.
The snowstorm on Everest struck during China’s weeklong national holiday, when thousands of Chinese tourists flock to the area for clear views of the 29,000-foot peak. Many were not prepared for the blizzard.
Dong Shuchang, a nature photographer who was in a group of 20 hikers, told the BBC that “our windbreakers and raincoats were no match for the snow.”