Last Update: January 21, 2023, 22:52 IST
A general view of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu can be seen in Cusco. Reuters/Enrique Castro-Mendeville
Demonstrations demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte have been ongoing since early December, killing 46 people and forcing the government to impose a state of emergency in violence-hit areas.
Peru has closed its famous tourist site Machu Picchu amid anti-government protests, its culture ministry said on Saturday, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded near the Inca citadel amid deadly unrest.
Demonstrations demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte since early December have killed 46 people and prompted the government to impose a state of emergency in violence-hit areas.
Authorities announced on Saturday that another protester had died following demonstrations in the country’s south, with the victim already pronounced dead at a local hospital in the city of Puno.
Before Machu Picchu closed on Saturday, rail services to the site had already been suspended due to track damage by protesters.
At least 400 people, including 300 foreigners, are trapped at the bottom of the site in the city of Aguas Calientes, and there are pleas to be evacuated.
“The closure of the Inca Trails Network and the Machu Picchu Citadel has been ordered to maintain social distancing and the safety of visitors,” the culture ministry said in its Saturday statement.
“We don’t know whether a train will take us or not. Chilean tourist Alem Lopez told AFP on Friday that all tourists here were queuing up to register for evacuation.
“Tourists cannot go because the railway has been damaged in different places,” Tourism Minister Luis Fernando Helguero said on Friday.
“Some tourists choose to walk to Piscakucho, but this takes six hours or more and very few people can do it,” he said.
Piscacucho is the closest village to Machu Picchu connected by roads.
In December, several hundred stranded tourists were rescued from near the site.
Protesters are trying to keep up the pressure on the Peruvian government, defying a state of emergency that now covers about a third of the country.
Of the 46 dead, 45 were protesters and one was a police officer.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)