Fife climber among five Britons rescued after fall

Former Leven man suffered head injuries in plunge on mountain

A climber from Fife has cheated death for a second time after he was one of five British mountaineers rescued from a 22,500ft mountain in Pakistan.

Alastair Swinton, 30, who is originally from Leven, was tackling the Koyo Zom peak in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with friends on Sunday when they fell on a glacier, local officials said.

An army helicopter reached two of the climbers on Sunday evening and another had remained at base camp and was safe, but darkness and poor weather halted the attempt to get the remaining two – including Mr Swinton – off the mountain until Monday.

Mr Swinton reportedly suffered head injuries after he and fellow climber Thomas Livingstone got into difficulty after climbing to a height of 14,000ft, but initial attempts to reach the pair failed.

Reports suggest they were eventually plucked off the mountain and taken to hospital at some point yesterday.

Will Sim and John Crook have been identified as the two who were airlifted to safety for treatment at a nearby hospital in the town of Mastuj, while Uisdean Hawthorn was said to be the fifth climber who had stayed at base camp along with three cooks and a guide.

Mr Swinton’s condition was unknown last night, but the Foreign Office confirmed all five had been rescued.

A spokesman said: “Our staff are in close contact with the support teams of five British climbers who have been rescued from a mountain in Pakistan, as well as those who carried out the rescue operation.”

Mr Swinton was previously in the news in 2013 when he was caught up in an avalanche in the Italian Alps.

He had been with two other Britons on their way down Europe’s highest peak Mont Blanc when that incident took place, although he miraculously walked away with just bruises after “swimming” through a wall of snow.

Koyo Zom is located on the border between the Chitral district and GilgitBaltistan in Pakistan, and is said to be extremely popular with visiting thrillseekers.

Upper Chitral’s Additional District Commissioner (ADC) said the British expedition team had reached the Koyo Zom base camp on September 3, but the problems arose at around noon on Sunday.

He said: “After receiving word of the accident, a rescue operation was launched and rescue teams reached the climbers by helicopter.

“As per our information, the team fell from a height of 30 metres after a climber slipped on a glacier during the trek.”

Mountain guides describe the 22,500ft Koyo Zom as a long, narrow mountain with steep icy slopes.

Hundreds of climbers scale mountains in northern Pakistan every year and accidents are common because of avalanches and sudden changes in weather.

However, all five climbers in this case were said to have been well prepared for their expedition.

Alastair Swinton was lifted to safety from the slopes of Koyo Zom in Pakistan.