Islamabad, Aug 2 (dpa/GNA) – Search efforts backed by military helicopters are under way, after at least 10 climbers went missing on a mountain in northern Pakistan after an avalanche, officials said on Friday.
The avalanche on the 8,047-metre-high Broad Peak, hit the expedition led by renowned Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, said al-Pine Club of Pakistan, a body that oversees mountaineering.
At least six men from Nepal, one American woman, an Omani female mountaineer, a Chinese national and a Pakistani were part of the expedition that lost contact with the base on Thursday morning, the club said. “We haven’t heard from them since then,” said Ayaz Shigri, secretary general of the club, adding that “two helicopters and a ground team have been dispatched this morning to locate them.”
Broad Peak is one of them tallest mountains in the world. Hundreds of climbers attempt to summit it every year along with K2, the world’s second-highest peak in the same region.
Expedition leader Purja is known for having climbed all peaks over 8,000 metres. Mountaineering accidents are common on Pakistani peaks and the frequency is increasing due to climate change, according to climbing experts.
GNA