Beijing — About 900 hikers, guides and other staff who were stranded by a weekend blizzard in a valley on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have reached safety, state media said late Tuesday.

The storm struck the area Saturday night, cutting off access to where the hikers were staying in tents at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet.

In all, 580 hikers and more than 300 guides, yak herders and other workers were stranded. About 350 hikers were able to descend by noon Monday and the rest had arrived by Tuesday, state media said, citing the local government.

"Thankfully, some people ahead of us were breaking trail, leaving footprints we could follow - that made it a little easier," the Reuters news service quotes hiker Eric Wen, 41, as saying. " ... Otherwise, it would've been imposs

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