Peru has decided to close Machu Picchu, an Inca tourist gem and the country’s main attraction, because of the unrest rocking the country since December, which has left 46 people dead, the government announced on Saturday.
By AFP
Lhe closure of the Inca Trails network (land access, Inca Trail) and the Llaqta (Citadel) of Machu Picchu has been ordered due to the social situation and to preserve the integrity of visitors,” the ministry said. of Culture in a press release.
The railway, the only way to get to the site – apart from the march – has been cut for several days, the track having been damaged by demonstrators. According to the company that operates it, rails were removed by the protesters.
At least 400 tourists – including 300 foreigners – are stranded at the foot of the site, in Aguas Calientes.
“We don’t know if a train will pick us up. All the tourists here are queuing up to register” for an evacuation, Chilean tourist Alem Lopez told AFP on Friday.
Tourists stranded
Tourists “cannot go out because the railway has been damaged in different places,” Tourism Minister Luis Fernando Helguero said on Friday. “Some tourists have chosen to walk to Piscacucho but it is a walk of six hours or more and very few people can do it”.
Piscacucho is the closest village to Machu Picchu connected to the road network.
In December, tourists were also stranded on the site before being evacuated by a special train, supervised by the police and teams of railway workers, to repair the track.
The protests – demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the dissolution of parliament – have claimed 46 lives (45 civilians and a policeman) since December 7.
They began after the dismissal and arrest of left-wing president Pedro Castillo, accused of having attempted a coup d’etat by wanting to dissolve the Parliament which was about to oust him from power.
