A local mountain climber lost his life while a foreign one sustained injuries when four members of an international expedition team were caught in an avalanche that struck K2 on Friday.
K2, standing at 8,611 metres above sea level, is the second highest peak in the world, attracting a host of local and foreign tourists. Last summer, Gilgit-Baltistan authorities issued a total of 175 permits to climbers aspiring to conquer the mountain, despite the treacherous climb and harsh weather conditions.
The senior vice president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), Karrar Haidri, told Dawn.com that at approximately 12:30pm on Friday, an avalanche struck Camp 1 on K2, located about 500 metres above the base camp. Four climbers were caught in the avalanche.
A foreign climber sustained minor injuries, while two others successfully returned to the Advance Base Camp. However, a local climber and high-altitude porter, Iftikhar Hussain from Sadpara in Skardu, lost his life in the incident.
Hussain’s body has since been recovered and brought down to the base camp.
The other climbers were Dawa Finjo Sherpa and Dawa Geljen Sherpa from Nepal, and high-altitude porter Niaz Ali from Skardu. The international team was returning from Camp 2 during their rotation for summit at the time of the incident.
The expedition outfitter submitted a formal request to the president of the ACP, Major General Irfan Arshad, and Askari Aviation for a mercy helicopter operation to repatriate the deceased following the incident.
The request was approved by the army’s General Headquarters on humanitarian grounds. According to Haidri, the body will be airlifted by the Army Aviation and transported to Sadpara in Skardu today.
Earlier this month, a tourist from the Czech Republic, Klára Kolouchová, died after falling into a ravine at the Nanga Parbat base camp in GB.
Kolouchová, 46, was part of a multinational expedition attempting to summit the mountain.
Her health reportedly deteriorated at Camp 4, forcing her to abort the climb and begin her descent with Nepali Sherpa Taraman Tamang.