Turks trapped on Everest rescued

Turkey rescued two of its citizens stranded on Mount Everest in the Himalayas, the country's foreign minister said on March 16.

"We reached our citizens: Muhammed Emin Özyazıcı and Muratcan Kaya who were stuck on Everest by helicopter," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a tweet.

"We will bring them to our country by plane as soon as possible," Çavuşoğlu added, sharing pictures of the duo.

As Nepal officially canceled all climbing expeditions to the world's highest mountain, two Turkish climbers were reportedly stuck on Mount Everest due to altitude sickness.

Kaya and Özyazıcı took refuge in a village and contacted Turkey's embassy in New Delhi on March 15.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry immediately initiated a rescue mission after the call.

The climbers had said they sought refuge in Gorakshep village in Nepal and voiced their request for an urgent descent, as they caught "altitude sickness."

Özyazıcı had told reporters that they were about 5,150 meters up the mountain.

Özyazıcı had said that they experienced headaches, nausea and vertigo and opted to ask for help as their insurance policy doesn't cover a rescue with a helicopter.

The duo left Istanbul on March 5 to Kathmandu and started their climb on March 8.

Nepal has officially canceled all expedition permits for Everest during the spring climbing season because of the coronavirus outbreak.