Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Nepal&rsquo;s spring Everest season has opened under the shadow of a major rescue-fraud scandal that investigators say exploited trekkers, insurers and the country&rsquo;s mountaineering industry. Police allege that trekking guides, helicopter operators, hospitals and agents worked together to stage or exaggerate medical emergencies, trigger unnecessary evacuations and submit inflated insurance claims worth nearly $20 million, local media reported on Friday. The case centres on what Nepal Police&rsquo;s Central Investigation Bureau says was a years-long racket embedded in the trekking business. According to recent reporting, investigators found 317 fake rescues between 2022 and 2025 out of 2,320 helicopter operations, with fraudulent claims totalling about $19.65 million. Authorities have said the matter is now before the Kathmandu District Court, with 32 accused in the case, while some reports have described the action as 33 charges, reflecting different snapshots of the proceedings.&nbsp; Investigators say the scam followed a repeatable script. Trekkers were allegedly frightened into believing they were too ill to continue, or were made to appear sick, and were then flown to Kathmandu by helicopter. Once there, hospitals allegedly created false or inflated admission records, treatment notes and billing documents to support large insurance claims. Reporting also says that even when several trekkers shared one helicopter, each could be billed as if they had taken a separate full-fare flight.&nbsp; Some of the most disturbing allegations involve the deliberate creation of symptoms. Recent accounts citing police findings say certain trekkers were allegedly given substances such as baking soda or excessive Diamox with water to mimic altitude sickness and justify evacuation. Those claims remain allegations under investigation rather than court-established fact, but they have become the most alarming part of the case.&nbsp; The scandal is not entirely new. The Kathmandu Post first exposed Nepal&rsquo;s fake rescue network in 2018, prompting a government inquiry and a lengthy report, but the problem allegedly persisted and worsened. Officials now fear the case could damage Nepal&rsquo;s image just as climbers prepare to arrive for the main Everest window from late April through May.&nbsp;

Nepal

Nepal’s Everest season begins amid a massive rescue scam, with police claiming 317 staged evacuations, nearly $20 million in fraudulent claims, and trekkers manipulated or sickened for profit.

Nepal Everest season opens amid $20 million rescue scam

KATHMANDU: Nepal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepal-votes-in-key-postuprising-polls" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">voted</a>&nbsp;on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepals-gen-z-pins-hopes-on-postuprising-elections" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">toppled the government</a>. Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party. Election commission officials began collecting ballot boxes after voting closed, with papers to be taken under guard to a center in each constituency, before counting starts. Some winners are expected to be published as early as Friday, but full results may take several days. &quot;Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,&quot; said Nilanta Shakya, 60, a retired engineer, who was among the first to vote at a college in the capital, Kathmandu. &quot;I hope there is a meaningful change this time,&quot; she added. Voters have chosen who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores of government buildings were torched. Youth-led protests under a loose Gen Z banner began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepals-exchief-justice-sushila-karki-becomes-interim-premier-after-protests" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sushila Karki</a>, the interim prime minister, said the vote was critical in &quot;determining our future&quot;. The polls are one of the most hotly contested elections in the Himalayan republic of 30 million people since the end of a civil war in 2006. Thousands of soldiers and police have been deployed. The election saw a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal&#39;s dismal economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for decades and argue that their experience guarantees stability and security. &quot;Today feels like a day of celebration,&quot; said Nirmala Bhandari, 50, a housewife, who danced in the street with friends for a video for social media, after casting her vote in Bhaktapur district outside the capital. &quot;I am hopeful that the country will get new leaders and that we will build a better nation.&quot; &#39;Blood will bring change&#39; Helicopters will be used to collect ballot boxes from snowbound mountain regions across Nepal, home to eight of the world&#39;s 10 highest peaks, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/hundreds-of-hikers-rescued-from-everest-after-severe-snowstorm" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mount Everest.</a> But all eyes will be focused on the hot farming plains south of Kathmandu, where all three prime ministerial hopefuls contested seats &ndash; a departure from past elections that focused on the capital. KP Sharma Oli, the 74-year-old Marxist leader ousted as prime minister last year and seeking a return to power, is being challenged in the usually sleepy eastern district of Jhapa by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician. &quot;This election must reestablish democracy and contribute to end non-political, anarchic and violent tendencies,&quot; Oli said after voting, insisting his party would win the largest number of seats. The Jhapa-5 constituency, with around 163,000 voters, will determine whether Oli secures his seat or whether Shah enters parliament. Shah, from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who queued to vote in Kathmandu dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change. Also in the race as aspiring prime minister is Gagan Thapa, 49, the new head of the country&#39;s oldest party, Nepali Congress, who has said he wants to end the &quot;old age&quot; club of revolving veteran leaders. After casting his ballot, Thapa told AFP that it is &quot;the duty of the leaders&quot; not to let the events of last September occur again. On social media, voters shared images of their ink-marked thumbs &ndash; alongside photographs of the September protests. &quot;At the Gen Z protest, people died &ndash; and their blood will bring change, we hope,&quot; said Tek Bahadur Aale, 66, who voted in Jhapa. &quot;We hope a government with good governance, no corruption, comes this time.&quot; More than 3,400 candidates are running for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists. Analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any party.

Security personnel and electoral officials carry ballot boxes to the counting centre after voting ends at a polling station during Nepal's general election in Lalitpur on March 5, 2026. (AFP)

Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party.

Nepal awaits results in key post-uprising polls

BEIJING: About 900 hikers, guides and other staff who were stranded by a weekend snowstorm on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have reached safety, state media said late Tuesday. A severe storm struck the area Saturday night, cutting off access to where the hikers were staying in tents at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (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. Some hikers reportedly had hypothermia, and the official Xinhua News Agency said about a dozen of them were escorted to a meeting point by teams with food, medicine, heating, and oxygen supplies. The scenic area at Mount Everest in China&#39;s Tibet region has been temporarily closed. The 8,850-meter (29,000-foot) peak, the world&#39;s highest, straddles the border with Nepal. The storm struck during a weeklong holiday that ends Wednesday. Many Chinese travel at home and abroad during the holiday, which marks the anniversary of the founding of the People&#39;s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. In Nepal, a South Korean climber died in a weekend storm near the summit of Mera Peak, a 6,476-meter (21,250-foot) Himalayan mountain south of Everest. Early-season snowstorms hit at least two other areas in western China over the weekend, killing one person and stranding motorists on an icy and snowy highway near a scenic hiking spot. More than 200 people were evacuated from a remote and rugged valley in the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai province. One person died of hypothermia and altitude sickness. The area is undeveloped, and authorities later warned people against entering without permission, citing the rugged terrain, unpredictable weather, and an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). In northwest China&#39;s Xinjiang region, the Kanas scenic area was closed after a snowstorm on Sunday that stranded motorists on a nearby highway. The road had been cleared by Monday, according to state media.

Climate

About 900 hikers and guides stranded by a snowstorm on Mount Everest’s Chinese side have been rescued, some suffering from hypothermia. The scenic area is closed due to other storms across western China, which have caused fatalities and travel disruptions.

Hundreds of hikers rescued from Everest after severe snowstorm

Reuters

BEIJING: Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of Mount Everest in Tibet have been guided to safety by rescuers, Chinese state media reported on Sunday, as unusually heavy snow and rainfall pummelled the Himalayas. As of Sunday, 350 trekkers had reached the small township of Qudang, while contact with the remaining 200-plus trekkers had been made, CCTV reported. Visitors to the remote valley of Karma, which leads to the eastern Kangshung face of Everest, were in the hundreds this week, taking advantage of an eight-day National Day holiday in China. &quot;It was so wet and cold in the mountains, and hypothermia was a real risk,&quot; said Chen Geshuang, who was part of an 18-strong trekking team that made it to Qudang. &quot;The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly.&quot; Chen&#39;s party descended from the mountains on Sunday and was greeted by villagers after enduring a harrowing evening of heavy snowfall combined with thunder and lightning. With tears in her eyes, Chen accepted their offers of sweet tea and the promise of warmth, she said. &quot;Back in the village, we had a meal and were finally warm.&quot; Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams had been deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area, where nearly 1,000 people had been trapped, according to an earlier report by state-backed Jimu News. The remaining trekkers will arrive in Qudang in stages under the guidance and assistance of rescuers organised by the local government, CCTV reported. The CCTV report did not say if local guides and support staff of the trekking parties had been accounted for. &#39;HARDLY SLEPT&#39; Snowfall in the valley, which lies at an elevation averaging 4,200 metres (13,800 feet), began on Friday evening and persisted throughout Saturday. &quot;It was raining and snowing every day, and we did not see Everest at all,&quot; said Eric Wen, who survived the ordeal. His trekking party of 18 had decided on Saturday night to make their way back from their fifth and final campsite, concerned by the continuous snowfall. &quot;We only had a few tents. More than 10 of us were in the large tent and hardly slept,&quot; Wen told Reuters on Monday. &quot;It was snowing too hard.&quot; Wen said his group had to clear the snow every 10 minutes. &quot;Otherwise our tents would have collapsed,&quot; he said. Two men and a woman in the group fell victim to hypothermia when the temperature slipped below freezing, even though they were sufficiently attired, Wen said. But his expedition party emerged largely unscathed, including eight other expedition guides and several others who tended the yaks transporting their equipment and kit. NORTH FACE Karma valley, first explored by Western travellers a century ago, is a relatively pristine part of the Everest region. Unlike the peak&#39;s arid north face, it boasts lush vegetation and untouched alpine forests, fed by meltwaters from the Kangshung glacier at the foot of the world&#39;s highest mountain. It was unclear if trekkers near the north face had been affected or not. The north face, due to its easy access by paved road, regularly draws large numbers of tourists. October is a peak season, when skies usually clear at the end of the Indian monsoon. Ticket sales and entry to the entire Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday. To the south of Tibet in Nepal, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges and killed at least 47 people since Friday. Thirty-five people died in separate landslides in the eastern Ilam district bordering India. Nine were reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters and three others were killed in lightning strikes.

Asia

Hundreds of trekkers trapped by a sudden blizzard near Mount Everest’s eastern face in Tibet were rescued after days of heavy snow and freezing temperatures, as severe weather also caused deadly landslides and floods in Nepal.

Hundreds rescued after blizzard traps trekkers near Everest in Tibet

SHANGHAI: Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday to clear access to campsites on Tibet&#39;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.&nbsp;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,&nbsp;according to a report in Jimu News.&nbsp;Some tourists on the mountain have already been brought down, it added.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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.

 Mountaineers and trekkers head towards the Everest base camp from Lobuche in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal April 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Nearly 1,000 people are trapped by a blizzard on Tibet’s Everest slope, where rescue teams are working to clear snow. Meanwhile, landslides and floods in Nepal have killed 47 and severely damaged roads and bridges.

Articles tagged with "Mount Everest"

Nepal Everest season opens amid $20 million rescue scam

Nepal awaits results in key post-uprising polls

Hundreds of hikers rescued from Everest after severe snowstorm

Hundreds rescued after blizzard traps trekkers near Everest in Tibet

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