NEW DELHI: One of the two missing Japanese climbers‘ was discovered on Spantik mountain in northern Pakistan on Saturday, while the search for the second man continues, according to an official.
Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi attempted to climb the 7,027-metre (23,054-foot) peak in the Karakoram range when they went missing earlier this week.
Wali Ullah Falahi, the deputy commissioner of Shigar district, informed that “the dead body of a Japanese climber was found, and a search is ongoing for the second climber.”
The body was located 300 metres (984 feet) below Camp 3, which is set at an altitude of approximately 6,200 metres (20,341 feet) and serves as a preparation point for the final summit.Naiknam Karim, the head of Adventure Tours Pakistan, the company that organized the expedition, stated, “it is not clear whose dead body has been found.”
The search operation involves high-altitude climbers and experts, supported by two Pakistan Army helicopters.
The two climbers arrived at base camp on June 3 and were attempting the ascent without the assistance of porters. They were last spotted on June 10, and fellow climbers who expected to encounter them raised the alarm the following day. On Thursday, a military helicopter sighted the climbers, but the search had to be suspended due to adverse weather conditions.
Spantik, also known as the Golden Peak, is considered a “relatively accessible and straightforward peak” according to the website of Adventure Tours, a tourist company. Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains that exceed 8,000 metres in height, including K2, the second-highest peak globally. In 2013, government data showed that over 8,900 foreign visitors traveled to the remote Gilgit-Baltistan region, where most of the Karakoram range is situated, with the summer climbing season spanning from early June to late August.
(With inputs from AFP agency)
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