Hunt called off for UK climber

MISSING British climber Tom Ballard is presumed dead after rescuers called off their search of Pakistan’s ‘ Killer Mountain’.

Mr Ballard, 30, pictured, went missing ten days ago on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas – 24 years after his mother Alison Hargreaves was killed descending nearby K2.

Yesterday rescuers said they had taken the ‘painful decision’ to abandon the search. It is thought Mr Ballard and Italian climbing partner Daniele Nardi were asleep when their tent was hit by a ‘huge avalanche’.

A specialist team of four climbers spent three days searching the mountain using drones, but found no trace of the pair.