Snowstorm continues to trap hundreds of hikers on Mount Everest during China's national holiday
Rescuers have been helping hundreds of hikers trapped by heavy snow at tourist campsites on a slope of Mount Everest in Tibet, Chinese state media said.
About 350 hikers had reached a meeting point in Tingri country late on Sunday and rescuers were in contact with another 200, state broadcaster CCTV said.
The hikers were trapped at an elevation of more than 4900 metres, according to an earlier report from Jimu News, a Chinese online site. Mount Everest is about 8850 metres tall.
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Villagers with their oxen and horses ascend the mountain during rescue efforts to reach hundreds of hikers trapped by heavy snow at tourist campsites on a slope of Mount Everest in Tibet on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Lingsuiye via AP) AP
A hiker who rushed to descend before snow blocked the way told Jimu News that others still on the mountain told him the snow was a metre deep and had crushed tents.
Hundreds of rescuers headed up the mountain on Sunday to clear paths so that trapped people could come down, the Jimu report said.
A video shot by a villager showed a long line of people with horses and oxen moving up a winding path in the snow.
The snowstorm struck during a weeklong national holiday in China, when many travel at home and abroad.
Mount Everest, known as Mount Qomolangma in Chinese, straddles the border between China and Nepal, where recent heavy rains have left more than 40 people dead.
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In this May 16, 2020 aerial photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese surveyors hike toward a higher spot from the base camp on Mount Everest at an altitude of 5200 metres. (Jigme Dorje/Xinhua via AP, File) AP
Climbers attempt to scale the world's tallest peak from base camps in both countries. The base camp for climbers is separate from the tourist camp where hikers were trapped by the snowfall.
A strong earthquake killed at least 126 people in the same area in January.
In another mountainous region in western China, one hiker died of hypothermia and altitude sickness and 137 others were evacuated in the north part of Qinghai province, CCTV said Monday.
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