Search to continue for missing mountaineers on K2 summit

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Correspondent

SKARDU: The second-day rescue operation of Pakistan Army helicopters to locate three climbers, including Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who went missing while attempting to summit the world’s second-highest mountain ended with no sign of finding missing climbers.
A land and air search was launched Sunday morning to locate Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Sadpara and two foreign climbers who went missing while attempting to summit the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.
Two army helicopters flew to their maximum limit of 7,800 metres for a second time and conducted aerial reconnaissance for an hour to locate the missing climbers.
Two teams took part in the search operation, including one aboard a Pakistan Army helicopter while the other scouring the K2 route the mountaineers had taken.
Local mountaineers and porters are part of the teams looking for the three missing climbers.
Moreover, it has also emerged that the son of Ali Sadpara, Sajid Sadpara has returned to the base camp after he was sent back from 8200 kilometers altitude owing to a malfunction in his oxygen regulator.
The rescue operation to locate missing climbers will resume tomorrow.
Sadpara, John Snorri from Iceland and Jaun Pablo Mohr from Chile were on the mission to scale K2 but lost contact after they started their push for the K2 summit from camp 3 at midnight between Thursday and Friday.
A search operation on Saturday failed to trace the whereabouts of the three. Earlier, a Bulgarian mountaineer was confirmed to have died on K2.
Earlier, it was reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa are personally following developments regarding missing K2 mountaineers including Muhammad Ali Sadpara.
In a message posted on his Twitter account, Zulfi Bukhari said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa are concerned and personally following all developments regarding the missing mountaineers.
Moreover, a land and air search was launched Sunday morning to locate Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Sadpara and two foreign climbers who went missing while attempting to summit the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.
Sources told that two teams are taking part in the search operation, including one aboard a Pakistan Army helicopter while the other scouring the K2 route the mountaineers had taken.
Local mountaineers and porters are part of the teams looking for the three missing climbers.
Sadpara, John Snorri from Iceland and Jaun Pablo Mohr from Chile were on the mission to scale K2 but lost contact after they started their push for the K2 summit from camp 3 at midnight between Thursday and Friday.
A search operation on Saturday failed to trace the whereabouts of the three. Earlier, a Bulgarian mountaineer was confirmed to have died on K2.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi telephoned his Iceland counterpart Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson and discussed the issue of three missing climbers, including Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri.
He apprised the Iceland foreign minister about the specific steps taken by the Pakistani authorities to search and rescue the missing mountaineers.
He assured that Pakistan will spare no effort and will extend all possible support in this regard.
The foreign minister of Iceland appreciated the ongoing search and rescue operation for John Snorri and other climbers by Pakistani authorities.
A search operation was launched on Saturday to locate the three climbers – Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Sadpara, MP Mohr from Chile and Snorri who went missing while attempting to summit the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.
The three have not been contacted since they started their push for the K2 summit from camp 3 at midnight between Thursday and Friday.
Earlier, a Bulgarian mountaineer was confirmed to have died on K2.