About 350 hikers had reached a meeting point in Tingri Country and rescuers were in contact with another 200, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said late on Sunday. There was no immediate update on rescue efforts yesterday.

The hikers were trapped at an elevation of more than 4,900m, a report on Chinese online site Jimu News said. Mount Everest is about 8,850m tall.

Photo: Lingsuiye via AP

A hiker who rushed to descend before snow blocked the way told Jimu News that others still on the mountain told him the snow was 1m deep and had crushed tents.

Hundreds of rescuers on Sunday headed up the mountain to clear paths so that trapped people could come down, the Jimu report said.

A video shot by a villager showed a long line of people with horses and oxen moving up a winding path in the snow.

The snowstorm struck during a weeklong national holiday in China, when many travel at home and abroad.

In another mountainous region in western China, one hiker died of hypothermia and altitude sickness, and 137 others were evacuated in the northern part of Qinghai Province, CCTV said yesterday.

The search in an area in Menyuan County with an average altitude of more than 4,000m was complicated by the terrain, unpredictable weather and continuous snowfall, a CCTV online report said.

Mount Everest, known as Mount Qomolangma in Chinese, straddles the border between China and Nepal, where recent heavy rains have left more than 40 people dead.

Climbers attempt to scale the world’s tallest peak from base camps in both countries. The base camp for climbers is separate from the tourist camp where hikers were trapped by the snowfall.

A strong earthquake killed at least 126 people in the same area in January.