All stranded Everest hikers evacuated from remote Tibetan valley

Beijing - Rescuers guided all of the remaining trekkers near the east face of Everest in Tibet to safety on Tuesday, including hundreds of local guides and yak herders, authorities said, ending one of the largest search-and-rescue operations in the region.

Hundreds of hikers were stranded in deep snow over the weekend in the isolated Karma valley after an unusually powerful blizzard dumped heavy snowfall in the region.

Snow fell throughout Saturday in the valley, which lies at an average altitude of 4,200 m (13,800 ft). On Sunday, rescuers had guided about 350 hikers to safety.

According to an earlier Reuters report, citing a source, the remaining 200 or so hikers were expected to reach safety by Tuesday.

A total of 580 trekkers along with more than 300 guides, yak herders and other support staff were evacuated, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday evening.

The snowstorm also thwarted the plans of climbers guided by U.S.-based Madison Mountaineering to summit Cho Oyu, an 8,188-m (26,864-ft) peak on China's border with Nepal.

Karma valley was first explored by Western travellers a century ago. In recent years, with the development of the Everest region in Tibet as a major tourism draw, the area has attracted an increasing number of visitors. More than 540,000 tourists visited the Everest region last year, a new record.

The Everest region remains temporarily closed to the public, Xinhua reported, including the Karma and Rongshar valleys, as well as Cho Oyu.

The heavy snowfall over the weekend also affected hundreds of hikers in other parts of western China, including Xinjiang, Qinghai and Gansu. At least one died, due to a combination of hypothermia and acute mountain sickness.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Jamie Freed)