Two tourists were killed on Nov 19 after being stranded by heavy snow on the Great Wall in Beijing.

According to Beijing Evening News, they were part of a group of seven people, all aged around 50, who got trapped in a snow storm after reaching the top of the wall, in Heituo Mountain, Yanqing county, northwestern Beijing on Nov 18.

Exhausted and unable to return because of the snow, they called for emergency help around midnight, but when rescuers reached them five hours later, two people — a man and a woman — had slipped into a coma and failed to recover.

Earlier this month, three Japanese tourists were killed in heavy snow while touring the Great Wall in Hebei province.

Authorities have warned tourists of exploring the deserted sessions of the Great Wall.