Almost 1,000 trapped on Tibetan side of Mount Everest by blizzard

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday to clear access to campsites on Tibet’s eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 people have been trapped by a blizzard that has blocked roads, according to Chinese state media reports.

Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams have been deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area, which sits at an altitude above 4,900 metres (16,000 feet), according to a report in Jimu News.

Some tourists on the mountain have already been brought down, it added.

The snowfall began on Friday evening and continued throughout Saturday, according to notices on the official WeChat accounts of the local Tingri County Tourism Company, which said ticket sales and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday.

Just across the border in Nepal, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges and killed at least 47 people since Friday, police said.

Thirty-five people died in separate landslides in the eastern Ilam district bordering India. Nine people were reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters and three others were killed in lightning strikes elsewhere in the country.

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Louise Heavens)