False Everest Crowd Report Stemmed from China Trekking Incident
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
In early October, a viral report claimed 'around 1,000 climbers were stranded on Everest.' A widely shared photo showing about 100 climbers wearing oxygen masks on the summit area fueled the panic, but the story was later debunked as false. The image and brief broadcast originated from CCTV and actually depicted a well-known trekking trail in the Karma Valley on the eastern side of Everest within China (Tibet), near the Nepal border. Heavy early-October snowfall during a Chinese holiday brought an unusually large number of trekkers to the route; many became trapped, suffered hypothermia, and some were later rescued or managed to descend. Observers criticized international media for focusing sensationally on Everest while underreporting other concurrent tragedies — for example, roughly 40 people in Nepal died from snowfall and floods at the same time. (Source: Monthly 산 November issue)
