Hundreds | Pakistan

Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet were guided to safety by rescuers, Chinese state media reported on Sunday, as unusually heavy snow and rainfall 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, 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. “It was so wet and cold in the mountains, and hypothermia was a real risk,” said Chen Geshuang, who was part of an 18-strong trekking team that made it to Qudang. “The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly,” Chen told Reuters. Snow, thunder and lightning Snowfall in the valley, which lies at an elevation averaging 4,200 metres, began on Friday evening and pers...

GILGIT: Hundreds of Chinese nationals, foreign tourists and students remained stranded on the second day on Tuesday at Sost as protesters blocked Khunjerab Pass Immigration Office’s entry and exit points on the Pakistan-China border. Officials said a large number of Chinese nationals, students, foreign tourists couldn’t travel to China through Khunjerab Pass on the second day as the GB protesters did not allow travel at KKH between the two countries. The stranded Chinese nationals and foreign tourists protested with local police for not arranging their departure to China. Officials said a large number of Chinese nationals protested and exchanged hot words with officials. The GB people and traders have been staging a protest sit-in and blocking the Karakoram Highway for the last 51 days against collection of Sales Tax, Income Tax and Excise Tax by the federal government from the GB people. They say that collection of any tax from the GB people by the federal government is illegal as they have no representation...

Hundreds of people in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) have fallen victim to water-borne diseases owing to a severe shortage of clean drinking water following devastating floods in the region, government data showed on Thursday. The devastating impacts of climate change have become more visible in GB as unprecedented heat­­waves, erratic weat­her patterns and glacial melting have triggered cloudbursts and intense floods across the region. On Wednesday, a glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) swept away part of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), while on Tuesday evening, a powerful torrent surged through the Juchar nullah in Gulmit, Gojal, and Hunza, triggered by accelerated glacier melt. “Diamer, Shigar, Skardu, Astore, and Gilgit are most affected by poor and unsafe water, with the people of these districts being admitted to hospitals and clinics every day,” said GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq. A government report said children under the age of five have also begun falling victim to cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid and p...