Almost 1,000 trapped on Tibetan side of Mount Everest by blizzard

Reuters
Sun, October 5, 2025

Almost 1,000 trapped on Tibetan side of Mount Everest by blizzard

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday to clear access to campsites on Tibet's eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 people have been trapped by a blizzard that has blocked roads, according to Chinese state media reports.

Hundreds of local villages and rescue teams have been deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area, which sits at an altitude above 4,900 metres (16,000 feet), according to a report in Jimu News.

Some tourists on the mountain have already been brought down the mountain, it added.

The snowfall began on Friday evening and continued throughout Saturday, according to notices on the official WeChat accounts of the local Tingri County Tourism Company, which said ticket sales and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday.

Just over the border, in Nepal, 47 people have been killed by heavy rains and flash floods since Friday.

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)


Mount Everest trekkers rescued after blizzard slams Tibet days after deadly flooding in Nepal

Emilee Speck
Sun, October 5, 2025 


Mount Everest trekkers rescued after blizzard slams Tibet days after deadly flooding in Nepal
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A rare winter storm hit the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, stranding hundreds of mountaineers during peak season, just days after heavy rainfall triggered flooding in Nepal, killing dozens, according to local media and mountain guide groups.

Heavy snow and rain blasted the Himalayas over the weekend, prompting rescues near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet, according to CCTV, a Chinese state media outlet.

Reuters reported hundreds of Mount Everest trekkers were stranded by the sudden blizzard on Sunday, with at least 350 guided down by rescuers, and more awaiting rescue.

October is peak time for those who make the trek to Mount Everest from the Tibetan side.

On the south side of Tibet, in Nepal, heavy rain caused damaging flooding, killing at least 47 people over the weekend, Reuters reported.

Water level rises in the Bagmati river during the rainfall in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 4, 2025. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has announced, vehicle movement in and out of the Kathmandu valley has been suspended for three days from October 4 to 6 due to the forecast of floods and landslides from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. (Photo by Sunil Pradhan/Anadolu via Getty Images)More

October is typically toward the end of monsoon season for Nepal, which is heavily influenced by activity over the Bay of Bengal.

This week's flooding was caused by a low-pressure system developing over the Bay of Bengal, according to meteorological officials with Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Original article source: Mount Everest trekkers rescued after blizzard slams Tibet days after deadly flooding in Nepal


Hundreds of trekkers on Tibetan side of Mount Everest rescued

Reuters
Sun, October 5, 2025 


The summit of the world's highest mountain Mount Everest, also known as Qomolangma, is covered in cloud, May 8, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray

REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo

A woman wearing a raincoat wade through a flooded street along the bank of overflowing Bagmati River following heavy rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

A man carries a bag as he wades through a flooded street along the bank of overflowing Bagmati River following heavy rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet had been guided to safety by rescuers, Chinese state media reported on Sunday, as unusually heavy precipitation including rain pummelled the Himalayas.

As of Sunday, 350 trekkers had reached the small township of Qudang, while contact with the remaining 200-plus trekkers had been made, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

Visitors to the remote valley of Karma, which leads to the eastern Kangshung face of Everest, were in the hundreds this week, taking advantage of an eight-day National Day holiday in China.

Snowfall in the valley, which lies at an elevation averaging 4,200 metres (13,779 feet), began on Friday evening and persisted throughout Saturday.

The remaining trekkers will arrive in Qudang in stages under the guidance and assistance of rescuers organised by the local government, CCTV reported.

Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams had been deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area, according to an earlier report by state-backed Jimu News.

Jimu News estimated that nearly 1,000 people had been trapped.

The CCTV report did not say if local guides and support staff of the trekking parties had been accounted for.

It was also unclear if trekkers near the north face of Everest, also in Tibet, had been affected or not.

The north face of Everest, due to its easy access by paved road, regularly draws large numbers of tourists. October is a peak season, when skies clear with the end of the Indian monsoon.

Ticket sales and entry to the entire Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday, according to notices on the official WeChat accounts of the local Tingri County Tourism Company.

To the south of Tibet in Nepal, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges and killed at least 47 people since Friday.

Thirty-five people died in separate landslides in the eastern Ilam district bordering India. Nine people were reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters and three others were killed in lightning strikes elsewhere in the country.