Tibet | 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...