GILGIT: A week after the death of a Japanese climber who fell into a crevasse while descending the 7,027-metre Golden Peak, some local climbers and high-altitude porters from the Hoper Valley of Nagar district managed to retrieve and hand over his body to his colleagues.

The 65-year-old climber, Onishi Hiroshi, fell into the crevasse near Camp-2 after summit of Golden Peak on July 3.

Mukhtar Hussain, Jafar Hussain, Abbas Ali, Saleem, Mustafa and other high-altitude porters brought the body to the Hoper Valley after tireless efforts over the past six days. They handed over the body to Japanese colleague climbers in Hoper.

The body was later shifted to Islamabad to facilitate its return to his family in Japan.

Meanwhile, two ailing climbers Salma Masood from Pakistan and Dutch mountaineer Riemer­hens Richard were airlifted to Skardu from Broad Peak by a helicopter of Pakistan Army on Wednesday.

Nine more summit Nanga Parbat; two skiers aim for peak today

On the other hand, nine more climbers, including three from Europe, summited Nanga Parbat (8,125m) on Wednesday, a day after four climbers summited the peak, according to Seven Summits Treks.

Vadim Druelle from France and Israfil Ashurli of Azerbaijan summited the peak without bottled oxygen. Viveke A. Sefland from Norway, Thomas Ntavarinos from Greece, Al Harthy Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah from Oman, Ngima Wangdak, Ngima Dorchi, Pasang and Phubadhile from Nepal summited the peak.

Earlier, four members of the rope fixing team — Lhakpa Temba Sherpa and Pemba Sherpa from Nepal, and Dilawar Hussain and Fida Ali from Pakistan — reached the peak.

Meanwhile, skiers Anny Tybor from Poland and Tom Lafaille from France intend to summit Nanga Parbat without supplementary oxygen on Thursday and ski down, as they reached Camp 2.

Airlifted to Skardu

The tour operator of a three-member Pakistani expedition team told Dawn that Salma Masood from Lahore and Dutch mountaineer Riemerhens Richard were airlifted to Skardu from Broad Peak by a Pakistan Army helicopter, after their health condition deteriorated and they sought urgent medical aid.

According to the tour operator, Salma Masood left for camp 1 from Broad peak base camp on Tuesday but was brought back to base camp after her health condition deteriorated. She had requested medical aid from Pakistan Army.

Similarly, the Dutch mountaineer, who was part of another expedition, had faced high-altitude sickness and breathing problems during the expedition, due to which he requested for evacuation.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024