Young Kiwis trapped in Machu Picchu village

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STRANDED: Kiwis Sarah Fitzgerald and Edward Clark are among about 2500 trapped tourists.

Tourists trapped in Machu Picchu

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LATEST: Kiwi backpackers trapped with thousands of others near the ancient Incan capital Machu Picchu after widespread flood damage are facing food shortages while they wait to be rescued.

Flash floods and mudslides have knocked out roads, railways and bridges, leaving seven people dead and trapping about 2500 tourists, including 13 New Zealanders and many more Australians.

Wellingtonian Edward Clark and his girlfriend Sarah Fitzgerald, both 23, had just returned to the village below the mountain-top ruins when evacuations began on Tuesday morning (NZ time).

Mr Clark, Miss Fitzgerald and two other Kiwi travellers, had managed to get into a hotel and were waiting to be flown to safety by helicopter.

Phone lines to the hotel were down yesterday but his mother, Jenny Clark, did manage to talk to him briefly.

Mrs Clark, who visited the area two weeks ago, said the Urubamba River was a raging torrent even then.

During the past week the region has experienced its heaviest rains in 15 years, with the torrent washing away 250 homes and bridges as far away as the city of Cuzco.

Though the price of food was escalating, Mrs Clark said her son and the others were all right and well equipped with wet-weather gear.

"I'm not particularly worried. Having just been there I can visualise it. I know they just have to wait it out and be patient.

"Edward thought he might be able to walk out but I said, `No.'

"The military are blocking exits [to the village] because it's so dangerous. He's taking it in his stride but they want to get out of there. [The village is] running out of eggs and chickens and beer is in short supply."

The group had put their names on the evacuation list, but the sick and elderly were being taken out first.

The evacuation of tourists was put on hold yesterday because of heavy rain.

Mr Clark had said some hotels near the river had been flooded, and the train station was chaotic, with angry tourists hoping to get out. The train was the main route out of Aguas Calientes, and crews were working to clear the tracks of mud and rockslides.

There had been reports of people begging for food and accommodation after running out of money.

The only other way out of the village was a 45-kilometre trek through the mountains.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Dave Courtney said today New Zealand's embassy in Chile was trying to make contact with those stranded.

He said 13 New Zealanders remained stranded, down from 16 yesterday.

An Argentinian tourist and a Peruvian guide were killed in mudslides on the four-day hiking trail to Machu Picchu, and other people drowned in swollen rivers.

A mother and her child were killed in Cuzco when heavy rain made their home collapse.

Machu Picchu, which was built in the mid-15th century and lies about 1100km southeast of Lima, is Peru's top tourist destination.

About a million people visit the site, which is 2400m above sea level, each year.

-with agencies

- © Fairfax NZ News