Two climbers lost on ‘killer’ peak

TWO foreign climbers attempting to scale the world’s ninth highest peak, Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan, have gone missing, officials said.

Karrar Haidri, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Alpine Club, said Alberto Zerain Berasategi, 55, from Spain and Mariano Galacan, 37, from Argentina went missing on Saturday while attempting to climb the 8 126-m summit, known as the Killer Mountain, in Gilgit-Baltistan region.

“A 14-member team of foreigners with 50 guides and porters started their campaign on June 18, but had to quit due to bad weather. Twelve members have returned to base camp.”

The organiser of the campaign has sent a couple of rescue teams but they had to come back due to an avalanche and inclement weather. An army helicopter is now being used to search for the mountaineers.

According to the Summit Karakoram, the organiser of the campaign, the two climbers stopped at an altitude of 6 100m for a couple of days due to poor weather and when they restarted their campaign they lost contact with the rest of the party.

“Zerain and Galvan were last contacted through satellite device at 10.21pm local time when they were a little above 6 400m. This altitude is not considered dangerous, but the two mountaineers chose the hardest route which has been successfully completed only once in history,” said the organiser.

Gilgit-Baltistan region, located between the western end of the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Karakoram Range, is home to five of the world’s 14 peaks over 8 000m, including the world’s second-highest mountain K2.

Conditions are always harsh and tough and deaths are not uncommon during campaigns. – Xinhua