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A train station is closed after rains affected rail travel near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Cuzco - Source: Reuters -
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Hundreds of tourists faced sleeping outdoors or in train
carriages near Peru's Incan citadel Machu Picchu as they wait to be
airlifted out after flooding and mudslides stranded them.
Around 700 tourists have been evacuated by helicopter, but some
1,400 are still waiting to be pulled out after the heaviest rains
in 15 years pummelled the area over the weekend, killing five
people and cutting off Peru's top tourist pull.
"We'll house as many as can, up to 500 people maybe," said Rosa
Tupayachi with PeruRail, the company that runs trains between the
Inca ruins and the nearby city of Cusco.
Around 300 people slept in train carriages and at the station on
Tuesday night. Services have been suspended.
Aside from the train, the only ways to reach the ancient Inca
fortress are to trek some 45 km through steep mountain passes or by
helicopter.
Some stranded tourists complained about the pace of the rescue
effort and at least one tour operator said supplies of food and
water was running low.
"It's a very difficult situation and I expect it'll go on for at
least a few more days," said Dennis Clarke, a Canadian tourist, as
he was waiting to board a rescue helicopter.
"People are anxious. A lot of people here have connecting flights,
other places they need to be," he said.
Machu Picchu, which was built in the mid-15th century and lies some
1,100 km southeast of Lima, is a World Heritage Site.
About a million people visit the ruins, which lie some 2,400
metres above sea-level, every year.
The government has declared a state of emergency.
Tour guide Cecila Molina in Aguas Calientes, the town nearest the
ruins, said food was scarce and that some vendors had tripled their
prices.
Television images showed travelers, locking arms for balance,
attempting to cross low-level rushes of muddy water.
Some got stuck and fell down.
Officials expect the rains to continue off and on until the
weekend, but with less intensity than in the past few days.
Cusco's Governor Hugo Gonzales has said some 1,200 homes have been
washed away by the rains, as well as several bridges and some
22,240 acres of farmland.
He put an initial estimate of the damage at $396 million.
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