ONE of two Japanese climbers was found dead and his body recovered from a mountain in northern Pakistan, with a search ongoing for the second man, a government official said.Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi were attempting to summit the 7,027m Spantik mountain in the Karakoram range before they went missing last week.
“The dead body of a Japanese climber was found.
“A search is ongoing for the second climber,” Wali Ullah Falahi, the Shigar district deputy commissioner, said on Saturday.
He later added that the body had been identified as Ryuseki Hiraoka.
Wali Ullah said the body was found 300m below Camp 3, which is set at around 6,200m and where climbers prepare for the final summit.
The search by high-altitude climbers and experts was backed by two Pakistan Army helicopters.
The pair had reached base camp on June 3 and were attempting the climb without the help of porters.
They were last seen on June 10. The alarm was raised the following day by fellow climbers who had expected to cross paths with them.
A military helicopter spotted the climbers last Thursday but the search was suspended due to poor weather conditions.
Spantik, also known as the “Golden Peak”, is described as a “relatively accessible and straightforward peak” on the website of a tourist company, Adventure Tours.
The country is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains higher than 8,000m – including K2, the world’s second highest.
In 2013, more than 8,900 foreigners visited the remote Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to government figures, where most of the Karakoram range is located, with the summer climbing season running from early June to late August. — AFP
