Desperate tourists are paying up to $500 (£300) to get on helicopters out of the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru after torrential rains set off mudslides that have killed up to ten people.
Britons could be among the 1,500 still trapped in the area three days after the heaviest rains in 15 years flooded the area over the weekend.
Rudy Chalco, a tour guide with a group of elderly Europeans, said that the rescuers were not complying with the government’s orders to prioritise the evacuation of children, the elderly and sick, and that some were paying to skip to the top of the list.
“The situation is about to erupt,” he said.
“We don’t have any more food, disorder is starting to reign, the soldiers and police that are here don’t know what to do or how to organise the help that has arrived, people are getting desperate and no one is taking charge.”
Witness Fernando Celis said: “A helicopter arrived yesterday to take out the elderly and the unwell and some tourists who had more money. There are almost no North Americans left, only the backpackers, and British backpackers. People on tours who were waving their money about, they were all evacuated.”
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