ZCZC
BFF-23
PAKISTAN-AVALANCHE-DEATH
Aussie mountaineer killed after hit by avalanche in N. Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, July 1, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – An Austrian mountaineer was killed
and two others injured in an avalanche in Pakistan’s north Gilgit Baltistan
(GB) area, local media reported Sunday.
The killed mountaineer Christian Huber and his two British team members
were trying to scale the 7,388 meters high Ultar Sar peak when their camp was
hit by the avalanche on Friday, GB’s local News Paper Pamir Times reported
early Sunday.
The British nationals including Bruce Normand and Timothy Miller got
injured in the incident. Rescue teams were trying to recover and send them to
Islamabad for medical assistance.
Normand, the leader of the three-member team, told authorities at ground
in an email from the peak that the weather there had suddenly worsened,
resulting in the accident.
Assistant commissioner of Hunza valley, where the peak is located, told
local reporters that rescue teams were facing difficulty in reaching the
stranded foreigners due to hostile weather conditions at the peak.
The three climbers reached Pakistan on June 27 and would stay in the
country till July 8, said the paper, adding that the foreign tourists were
traveling without any low altitude or high altitude porters.
Gilgit Baltistan lies at the junction of world’s three great mountain
ranges including the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas.
Five of the 14 highest peaks of the world, including the second highest K-
2, are located in the region, which also hosts some of the largest glaciers
of the world outside Polar Regions.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1227 hrs