Body of One Missing Japanese Climber Found at Spantik Peak; Search for Second Climber Continues

Tanveer Ahmed:

Islamabad: One of the two missing Japanese climbers was found dead at Spantik Peak in the Shigar Valley on Saturday during a rescue operation, while the search for the other climber continues.

The two Japanese climbers went missing during their attempt to summit the 7,027-meter Spantik Peak. Ground rescuers were unable to locate them in an initial attempt on Wednesday.

Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi, who were climbing in Alpine style without porters, had reached Camp 2 at an altitude of 5,300 meters between the Shigar and Nagar districts of Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday. However, when another seven-member Japanese expedition team arrived at the camp the following day, they were not there. The team then suspended their expedition and returned to base camp to inform officials.

Shigar Deputy Commissioner Waliullah Falahi confirmed today that one of the climbers had been found dead. “The nine-member rescue team recovered one climber and kept the body in a safe place. Now they are searching for the other climber,” he said.

Naiknaam Karim from Adventure Tours Pakistan also confirmed that the body was found and that the search for the other climber is ongoing. The identity of the body had not been determined at the time of reporting.

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