ISLAMABAD: The Alpine Club of Pakistan has said the winter expedition to climb the world’s second highest peak, K2, had officially been called off by foreign climbers due to bad weather.
Last month, a team of 10 from Nepal became the first climbers in history to successfully complete a winter attempt on the summit of K2 — one of last remaining big feats in mountaineering. But what began as a historic season turned deadly last week, after three climbers went missing on K2 on Friday, with hopes of their survival fading rapidly.
Muhammad Ali Sadpara, 45, of Pakistan, John Snorri, 47, of Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr, 33, of Chile, were last seen Friday around noon at what is considered the most difficult part of the climb: the Bottleneck, a steep and narrow gully just 300 meters shy of the 8,611 meter (28,251 ft) high K2.
The spot is just above the ceiling of helicopters, which have been searching for nearly five days now. There was no rescue mission on Wednesday because of bad weather.
“All foreign climbers at the K2 base camp have decided to end the K2 winter expedition 2020- 2021 in view of weather conditions,” Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said in a text message.
In a separate message about the missing climbers, he said they had now been missing for more than 90 hours.
“Due to the bad weather, no helicopter search flight for today,” Haidri said, saying rescue and search operations would continue once the weather improved.
It was the missing group’s second attempt at climbing K2 this winter, in a season that has already seen three other climbers die in the area.
Bulgarian Atanas Skatov’s body was picked up by a helicopter on February 5. Officials believe he fell while trying to climb K2.
On the same day that 10 Nepali sherpas became the first people to summit K2 in the winter, Spanish climber Sergio Mingote, 49, died after he fell down a crevasse attempting to make his way down to Base Camp.
In 2008, 11 climbers died on K2 over the course of two days.
Alpine club of Pakistan says foreign climbers call off K2 winter expedition
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Alpine club of Pakistan says foreign climbers call off K2 winter expedition
- Last month, 10 Nepali climbers became the first mountaineers in history to complete a winter attempt on the summit of K2
- What began as a historic K2 season turned deadly last week after three climbers went missing, three other foreign climbers have also died this year
Peshawar church attack haunts Christians at Christmas
- The 2013 suicide attack at All Saints Church killed 113 worshippers, leaving lasting scars on survivors
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities on Christmas, act against any injustice
PESHAWAR: After passing multiple checkpoints under the watchful eyes of snipers stationed overhead, hundreds of Christians gathered for a Christmas mass in northwest Pakistan 12 years after suicide bombers killed dozens of worshippers.
The impact of metal shards remain etched on a wall next to a memorial bearing the names of those killed at All Saints Church in Peshawar, in the violence-wracked province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Even today, when I recall that day 12 years ago, my soul trembles,” Natasha Zulfiqar, a 30-year-old housewife who was wounded in the attack along with her parents, told AFP on Thursday.
Her right wrist still bears the scar.
A militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on September 22, 2013, when 113 people were killed, according to a church toll.
“There was blood everywhere. The church lawn was covered with bodies,” Zulfiqar said.
Christians make up less than two percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people and have long faced discrimination in the conservative Muslim country, often sidelined into low-paying jobs and sometimes the target of blasphemy charges.
Along with other religious minorities, the community has often been targeted by militants over the years.
Today, a wall clock inside All Saints giving the time of the blast as 11:43 am is preserved in its damaged state, its glass shattered.
“The blast was so powerful that its marks are still visible on this wall — and those marks are not only on the wall, but they are also etched into our hearts as well,” said Emmanuel Ghori, a caretaker at the church.
Addressing a Christmas ceremony in the capital Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities.
“I want to make it clear that if any injustice is done to any member of a minority, the law will respond with full force,” he said.
For Azzeka Victor Sadiq, whose father was killed and mother wounded in the blasts, “The intensity of the grief can never truly fade.”
“Whenever I come to the church, the entire incident replays itself before my eyes,” the 38-year-old teacher told AFP.
