KHAPLU, Pakistan: Two elite Japanese mountain climbers fell from Pakistan’s K2, officials said Sunday following an attempt at a helicopter rescue that spotted the motionless pair but was forced to turn back.
Veteran mountaineers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima were attempting an ascent of the jagged western face of the world’s second highest mountain, using an expert climbing style prioritising speed and relying on minimal fixed ropes.
But on Saturday “they fell from a height of 7,500 meters (24,600 feet),” Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary Karrar Haidri said in a statement.
“A helicopter rescue was attempted, however the heli could not land,” said Wali Ullah Falahi, the deputy commissioner for Shigar district, which encompasses the 8,611-meter K2.
“Upon close inspection, the bodies of the two climbers were spotted, and it was determined that there was no movement. The heli then turned back,” he told AFP.
No organization, as yet, has confirmed the pair are dead.
Ishii Sports — a Japanese outdoor goods brand sponsoring the pair — said the high altitude and steep slope forced the helicopter to abort its landing.
“The pilot said the two men can be seen, but their status was unclear,” the firm said in a statement. “We are currently reviewing how we will rescue them.”
Rescue attempts are extremely risky on K2, even on the southeastern ridge, which is the most common route climbers take to the top.
The western face is a more vertical and exposed rock face, and has only been successfully scaled once before by a Russian team in 2007.
The ACP said Hiraide and Nakajima had both won multiple Piolets d’Or awards — described as “the Oscars of climbing” — for their feats of sportsmanship.
They “meticulously planned and trained for their K2 expedition, underscoring their dedication to pushing the boundaries of high-altitude mountaineering,” the ACP said.
During this summer climbing season three other Japanese climbers have died in Pakistan — all on the 7,027-meter Spantik mountain, which is also in the Gilgit Baltistan region.
Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 meters, including K2 which is considered a more difficult ascent than Everest, earning it the nickname “Savage Mountain.”
Two Japanese climbers fall from Pakistan’s K2
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Two Japanese climbers fall from Pakistan’s K2
- Japanese mountaineers were attempting to summit K2 relying on minimal fixed ropes
- On Saturday, they fell from a height of 7,500 meters, says Alpine Club of Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
