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11 feared dead on K2; rescue team reaches Italian
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-05 10:52 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A helicopter plucked two frostbitten Dutch climbers from K2 after an avalanche and exposure left at least 11 people presumed dead on the world's second-highest mountain.
An Italian who was also stranded made his way down the slope with a rescue team after telling a colleague, "I am surely not going to give up now." Italian Marco Confortola, descended to 20,340 feet (6,200 meters) but bad weather forced officials to abort a helicopter rescue Monday, said Shahzad Qaiser, a top official at the tourism ministry. He was climbing down on foot, despite frostbite, assisted by a support team from a base camp. Another attempt was planned for Tuesday, Qaiser said. K2, which lies near Pakistan's northern border with China, is regarded by mountaineers as more challenging to conquer than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. K2 is steeper, rockier and more prone to sudden, severe weather.Agostino Da Polenza of Everest-K2-CNR, an Italy-based high-altitude scientific research group, also spoke to Confortola on Monday. "I never gave up in my life, I am surely not going to give up now," Da Polenza quoted the climber as saying on his group's Web site. One of the men rescued Monday, Wilco Van Rooijen, blamed mistakes in preparation for the final ascent -- not just the avalanche -- for one of mountaineering's worst disasters. |
