ISLAMABAD: A Japanese mountaineer is presumed dead after he and his partner fell about 70 meters (230 feet) while climbing a never-scaled mountain in northern Pakistan, their tour operator and a mountaineering official said Wednesday. The second climber, also Japanese, was injured.
The accident occurred Friday afternoon as the pair climbed a mountain in the Andaq Valley, part of northern Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region which is also home to K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, said Karakarom Tours Pakistan.
The climbers, Shinji Tamura and Takayasu Semba, fell when they had reached an altitude of 5,380 meters (17,650 feet), the tour operator said in a statement.
Reports said Tamura slipped and fell at an altitude of 5,380 meters (17,650 feet) while trying to summit the mountain on Friday.
Semba Takayasu, who was injured in the incident, told international publication that he managed to reach back the base camp to seek help from local authorities after they were presumably hit by rock.
The Alpine Club official said a search operation was immediately launched to search Shinji Tamura but rescue teams failed to find him until Monday when the operation was called off, declaring the death of the Japanese mountaineer.
