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Fog Strands 1.2K Everest Hikers

Flights canceled, they spend four days in foothills

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2011 10:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – A heavy fog has shrouded the only Mount Everest-area airport, shutting down flights and leaving some 1,200 foreign hikers stranded in the foothills. A few have caught helicopter rides out of the area, but many have spent four days at an altitude of 9,200 feet, living in Tenzing-Hillary Airport and tents at local hotels, the AP reports.

Foreign trekkers return from the domestic airport after their flight was cancelled in Katmandu, Nepal, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

The last light of the day sets on Mount Everest as it rises behind Mount Nuptse as seen from Tengboche, in the Himalaya's Khumbu region, Nepal, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Foreign trekkers stand outside the domestic airport after their flight was cancelled in Katmandu, Nepal, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

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Fog Strands 1.2K Everest Hikers

Flights canceled, they spend four days in foothills

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