Chinese mountaineer killed on Pakistan’s K2/node/2611805/pakistan
Chinese mountaineer killed on Pakistan’s K2
This picture taken on July 15, 2023, shows a Pakistani porter looking towards K2, world’s second tallest mountain in the Karakoram range of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. (AFP/File)
Guan Jing was descending from summit of K2 on Tuesday night when she was hit by falling rocks
This season, four deaths have been reported, including two on K2, one on Nanga Parbat, one on Laila Peak
Updated 14 August 2025
AFP
KHAPLU, Pakistan: A Chinese mountaineer died while descending the world’s second-highest peak, with Pakistani rescuers waiting on Thursday for weather conditions to improve to recover her body.
Guan Jing was descending from the summit of K2 on Tuesday night when she was hit by falling rocks, Deputy Commissioner for Shigar district Arif Ahmad told AFP.
“An army aviation team is ready for the recovery of the body and is waiting for better weather conditions,” he said.
According to the Alpine Club of Pakistan, which monitors local climbing expeditions, Guan is the fourth casualty of the country’s summer climbing season.
Guan was among 30 climbers who reached the summit of K2 on Monday before beginning her fatal descent.
“The incident occurred on the Abruzzi Spur route between Camp I and Advanced Base Camp — a section notorious for frequent rockfalls,” the Alpine Club said.
At 8,611 meters (28,251 feet), K2 on the Pakistan-China border sits 238 meters shy of world-topping Himalayan giant Everest but is considered more technically challenging.
Home to five of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 meters, Pakistan typically welcomes an influx of summer climbers from early June until late August.
This season, four deaths have been reported, including two on K2, one on Nanga Parbat and one on the lesser-known Laila Peak in the Karakoram range where German Olympic biathlete Laura Dahlmeier died after being hit by falling rocks last month.
ISLAMABAD: Soon after the Tarawih prayers end each night in Ramadan, a playground in Islamabad’s D-17 sector comes alive under bright floodlights.
The quiet residential corner fills with the thwack of volleyballs flying across the net as players leap for smashes and spectators line the edges of the ground, cheering and clapping late into the night. Matches often stretch until 3am, just hours before Sehri, the pre-dawn meal before the day’s fast begins.
Volleyball, one of the cheapest team sports, has long been popular in Pakistani towns and villages. Pakistan’s national team currently ranks 44th out of 101 teams in the FIVB Senior World Rankings and seventh in Asia.
During Ramadan, however, the game becomes more than just competition. With daily routines slowed by fasting, nighttime offers a rare window for activity, socializing and community gatherings.
“It has been four years since I started playing here,” said Ismail Khan, who hails from North Waziristan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has represented Pakistan at the Under-19 level.
Players compete in a volleyball match under floodlights during a late-night game in Islamabad, Pakistan, February 27, 2026.
“Late-night matches in Ramadan have become a tradition. We are busy during the day and fasting, so the night is when everyone is free. That’s when we come together.”
This year, the D-17 Volley Club has organized a Ramadan tournament that has drawn teams from across the capital as well as nearby towns and villages. For many participants, the games are about more than winning.
Khan says the atmosphere during Ramadan is unique.
“It feels different in Ramadan,” he told Arab News. “There is more energy.”
Spectators watch a late-night volleyball match from a small bridge as players compete under floodlights in Islamabad, Pakistan, February 27, 2026.
The appeal of the matches extends beyond local players. Whyn Whyn, a volleyball player from the Philippines visiting Pakistan for the second time, occasionally joins games at the D-17 ground.
“This is my exercise. And through sports, I meet many people,” she said, adding that she often spends evenings rotating between different grounds in Islamabad.
Around the court, spectators gather on motorbikes or stand shoulder-to-shoulder near the sidelines, watching each rally unfold. The crowd’s cheers rise with every powerful serve or well-timed block.
“In Ramadan, the atmosphere is different,” Naveed Mahmood, who regularly comes to watch the matches, told Arab News.
“There are more people compared to other months. We stay here until Sehri.”
A player jumps to strike the ball during a volleyball match in Islamabad, Pakistan, February 27, 2026.
Children are frequent visitors as well, weaving through the crowd or sitting beside their parents while watching the games.
“I come here two to three times a week to watch volleyball,” said Muhammad Haroon, 13. “My father also plays here and watching him has inspired me to play as well.”
For Munawar Khan, the tournament’s organizer and a doctor by profession, the idea began five years ago with a simple aim: to keep people active during a month when daily routines slow.
“In Ramadan, people don’t have much activity during the day,” he said. “They are fasting and working. At night, they feel free. So, we decided to install floodlights and organize games.”
Over time, the initiative has grown into something larger.
Now, as the night deepens and the crowd lingers by the court, the rhythm of rallies continues beneath the lights, a small Ramadan ritual where sport, community and late-night energy meet until the approach of dawn.
“People from all walks of life come here to play,” Munawar said. “It brings the community together.”
