Hundreds of hikers stranded on Mt Everest have been rescued after unusually heavy snow and rainfall pummelled the Himalayas.
Chinese state media outlet Jimu News reported they were trapped in campsites on the eastern side of the mountain on Sunday.
Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams were deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area.
As of Monday, Reuters reported hundreds of the trekkers stranded by the blizzard had been guided to safety by rescuers.
Footage showed a line of hikers wading through snow in poor visibility overnight. (Source: Reuters)
Three hundred and fifty trekkers had reached the small township of Qudang, while contact with the remaining 200-plus trekkers had been made, CCTV reported.
"It was so wet and cold - hypothermia was a real risk," Chen Geshuang, who was part of a trekking group who made it to Qudang, told Reuters.
"The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had ever encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly."
In China's southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, some 347,000 people had already been evacuated ahead of Typhoon Matmo making landfall.
The typhoon had maximum sustained wind speeds of 151km/h on Sunday morning, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.
Mount Everest is the world's highest peak at 8849m. Although many people attempt to climb the summit every year, it is considered incredibly dangerous.
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