Mount Everest rescue sees all 880 hikers, guides saved after blizzard left them stranded

The nearly 900 hikers, mountain guides and other staffers who were stranded by a blizzard on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have all been rescued, according to state media.

A severe storm struck the popular climbing area on Saturday night, kicking off a multi-day rescue operation to secure 580 hikes and some 300 workers who were stuck more than 16,000 feet up the mountain.

About 350 were able to descend by Monday, with the rest secured overnight Tuesday. Dozens of climbers rescued are now contending with hypothermia from the perilous trek, Chinese state media reported.

Those who were flagged with illness were escorted to a meeting point by rescue teams who had prepared heating, medicine, food and oxygen supplies, according to the state Xinhua News Agency.

The chaos on the mountain erupted over the weekend as tourists celebrated the weeklong Golden Week holiday commemorating the start of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule on Oct. 1, 1949.

Heavy snowfall began on Friday, with a full blizzard encircling the party of climbers and leaving them stranded by Saturday night.

Chinese and Tibetan officials launched a rescue effort to escort the hikers and mountain guides down Everest, with first responders climbing with horses and drones to aid in the search.

Eric Wen, one of the people who descended the mountains on Tuesday night, said the second wave of rescues was made easier thanks to the work from the first wave.

“Thankfully, some people ahead of us were breaking trail, leaving footprints we could follow — that made it a little easier,” he told Reuters. “…Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible for us to make it out (of the Karma valley) on our own.”

In a separate mountainous region of western China, a hiker died of hypothermia and altitude sickness, while 137 had to be rescued following extreme weather in Qinghai province, Chinese state outlet CCTV reported.

With Post wires