Helicopters save two Dutch climbers after K2 tragedy
2008-08-04

Category Snow Avalanche Mount Everest Mountain Climbing Nations Italy Pakistan Norway Sweden Netherlands Source (AFP)

GILGIT, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani army helicopters airlifted two frostbitten Dutch climbers from K2 on Monday after a catastrophic avalanche on the world's second highest peak killed 11 mountaineers, officials said.

An attempt to evacuate an Italian climber stranded on the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) Himalayan summit, regarded as far more dangerous to scale than Mount Everest, was postponed after a storm grounded the choppers.

The accident is believed to be the deadliest single incident on K2 .

"Two Dutch climbers were brought by our people and their colleagues down to base camp from an altitude of 7,300 metres overnight," army officer Captain Azimullah Beg told AFP by satellite telephone from K2 base camp.

"They were then picked up by army helicopter from base camp this morning and have now been shifted to hospital for treatment for severe frostbite," said Beg, identifying the climbers as Wilco Van Rooijen and Cas van de Gevel.

A team of four Pakistani rescuers was bringing Italian Marco Confortola down to the 5,200-metre base camp, Pakistani mountain guide Sultan Alam said, adding that the climber could not walk because of frostbite in his leg.

A helicopter made contact with Confortola earlier but was unable to rescue him, and the choppers have now been grounded because of a dust storm in the northern town of Skardu, where they are based, an aviation firm said.

"Our helicopters are on standby but chances are slim for a rescue operation today. It is likely that the Italian will now be rescued tomorrow," Colonel Ilyas Mirza, of army-backed Askari Aviation, told AFP.

The two Dutchmen and the Italian were "badly affected" by frostbite "and it appears that at least one of them would have his hand and leg chopped off. This is what our high altitude doctors believe," Alam said.

The climbers who died in Friday's avalanche were three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis, a Serbian, an Irishman, a Norwegian and a Frenchman, officials said.

The disaster happened when a pillar of ice broke away in a steep gully known as the Bottleneck near the summit and swept away fixed lines used by the mountaineers as they made their descent on Friday.

"At least 11 climbers have died. This is one of the worst incidents in the history of K2 climbing," Alam said.

The deadliest year to date on the peak on the Pakistan-China border was in 1986, when 13 climbers died in a series of incidents.

An Austrian climber at K2 base camp said he was aware of 12 deaths resulting from Friday's avalanche, although the figure was not confirmed by Pakistani officials.

"The mood at the camp is obviously very low," Christian Stangl was quoted as saying by Austria's APA news agency. "Every expedition has lost at least one or two people."

A Swedish climber who survived said there were too many inexperienced climbers on the mountain, widely acknowledged as much harder to climb than Everest despite being a few hundred metres shorter.

"The accident could have been prevented. These mountains lure out way too inexperienced and naive people," Fredrik Straeng, told the Swedish news agency TT, also putting the death toll at 11.

He said a large number of climbers decided to leave their camp at just over 7,000 metres before disaster struck to try to reach the summit after the skies cleared following a long period of poor weather.

Straeng, who said he feared for his own life when a Pakistani climber fell on top of him, said he had "carried down both living and dead people from the mountain" after the disaster.

Missing Irishman Gerard McDonnell, 37, an Alaska-based oil worker who has climbed Everest, was given up for dead by experienced mountaineering friend Pat Falvey.

Norwegian media reported that Rolf Bae, 33, died in the disaster, while his wife was reportedly trying to make her way down with two other Norwegians.

Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli first scaled K2 on July 31, 1954. Between that first ascent and 2007, there were 284 successful ascents and 66 fatalities.

In the same period, Everest was scaled 3,681 times, with 210 deaths.