2 lost hikers die from exposure, 5 rescued

Two hikers froze to death as they attempted to climb in a closed tourist zone on snow-covered mountains in Yanqing, Beijing, said a media officer from Sihai township government, Yanqing county Monday.

"We were called to send firefighters to back up the local rescue team for seven trapped tourists in Mount Heituo Sunday night, at the junction of Yanqing county and Huairou district," said Qu Hui, a publicity official from Huairou firefighting squad.　

"Sihai fire squad found the people this morning," said Qu.

A media officer, surnamed Guo, from Sihai township government, said that 39 firefighters and local villagers spent four hours on the snow-covered mountain, at a height of over 1,100 meters above sea level, and located the trapped tourists at 5 am Monday morning.

"One man and one woman were already in a coma because of hypothermia, and one had a broken ankle. The youngest hiker in the group from Fengtai district is 52 years old," said Guo, who added the group had been on the mountain for almost 24 hours before they called firefighters for help.　

A 59-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman died at the hospital later on Monday, said Guo.

"The previous blizzard that swept Yanqing meant the tops of the mountains are still covered with 1-meter-high snow, so we sealed up the tourist zone on Mount Heituo a couple of weeks ago," said Guo.

"Those hikers climbed from Lishugou in Huairou district. Although we closed the main gate of the tourist area, it's impossible for us to seal up the whole mountain," said Guo.

According to Guo, hikers have sneaked into closed tourist zones before, but this was the first time someone died.

"We have staff on patrol, but also to look out for fire dangers in the woods, so we really hope tourists will become fully aware of the dangers and not sneak in anymore," Guo remarked.