Kids cleared off Machu Picchu as huge forest fire rages
DOZENS of British schoolkids were among 200 tourists evacuated from Machu Picchu at 7,970ft in Peru as a huge forest fire erupted.
The dream Andes trip turned into a nightmare when the youngsters from Ormskirk, Lancs, and scores of other Brits, had to trek downhill for five hours as smoke billowed around them.
Former Sky News journalist Chris Skudder was among them.
He said: “Tourists being led off mountains after wild fire – thick smoke obscuring all views. I should have been in campsite close to Machu Picchu but rangers are not allowing anyone in.
“My group having to be led down porters’ route away from smoke.”
The fire had erupted on a neighbouring mountain and rangers feared it would spread to the 15th century Inca citadel.
Voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, the UNESCO World Heritage Site was undiscovered by the West until 1911.