(CNN) – Hundreds of tourists stranded in the ancient city of Machu Picchu are being evacuated after Peru was placed under a state of emergency following the ouster of the country’s president.
After disruptions and closures over the past week, train services and airports are now reopening.
Civil unrest swept Peru earlier this month as former President Pedro Castillo was charged and arrested and his resignation from power accelerated long-simmering political tensions in the country. Train and flight services were disrupted as protesters stormed airports.
PeruRail, Peru’s rail operator for the country’s southern and south-eastern regions, said in a statement Saturday that trains would resume operations to and from Machu Picchu in the event of an emergency.
A train carrying stranded tourists arrives in Ollantaytambo, Peru, on December 17.
Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images
“With this aim, we are coordinating with the Municipality of Machu Picchu to ensure that people board these trains properly, giving priority to the care of the elderly, people with health problems and families with children,” the statement said Explanation.
Trains to and from Machu Picchu, the main access route to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, were halted Tuesday and PeruRail said in its statement that it regretted the disruption to its services, “caused by a situation beyond the control of our company . “
PeruRail also said the evacuees would be taken by bus from the municipality of Piscacucho to the city of Cuzco, where Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ) is located.
Peru’s Transport Ministry said Friday that flight operations, 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Machu Picchu, have resumed after being temporarily suspended due to protests in the country.
“Passengers who need to move around during the curfew can use their tickets as safe conduct,” the ministry said.
Also on Sunday, Paola Lazarte, Peru’s Minister of Transport and Communications, said Arequipa Airport – Peru’s largest airport in the south – is working to resume operations. after it was closed due to protests. She added that they received additional lighting kits that helped restart night flight operations on Saturday.
About 300 tourists from around the world, including Peruvians, South Americans, Americans and Europeans, have been stranded in the historic site, according to Darwin Baca, the mayor of Machu Picchu.
Baca told CNN on Friday he requested helicopter flights to evacuate the tourists after demonstrations halted trains and flights.
Stranded tourists walk through Chilca, near Machu Picchu.
Alejandra Orosco/Portal
After Castillo’s fall, protests erupted in cities across the country, sometimes marked by clashes with Peruvian security forces. Some protest in favor of Castillo, while others want a total restart of the country with new elections and a dissolution of Congress.
The municipality of Machu Picchu said in a statement on Friday it expects to evacuate tourists by Saturday as tensions escalated across the country – which had become deadly as at least 20 people died in the political demonstrations.
“The municipality, through the Department of Tourism, is conducting the necessary coordination for the selection and prioritization of children and vulnerable people for transfer onto humanitarian flights, work that has been carried out in coordination with the National Police and the District Health Center,” the said statement.
Warnings from international governments
The ongoing rescue operation is an organized collaboration between the Mayor of Machu Picchu, Darwin Baca León, in coordination with the Ministries of Foreign Trade and Tourism, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture (DDC) and the District Municipality of Machu Picchu.
The British Embassy in the Peruvian capital Lima advised British nationals To through the “iPeru” platform through their online form and with the local authorities at the Cultural Center on Avenida Pachacutec. The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel advisory for citizens traveling to Peru, which has listed it as a Tier 3 Reconsider Travel destination. The Department of State is asking travelers in Peru to sign up for US Embassy STEP notifications if they have not already done so.
Pope Francis called for peace in Peru in a speech on Sunday.
“We pray for peace in Peru, that the violence in the country will stop and that the path of dialogue will be taken to overcome the political and social crisis that is affecting the population.”