A Japanese climber has died while attempting to summit one of northern Pakistan’s highest mountains, and a search is continuing for his missing colleague, officials said Saturday.
Kallar Haidri, secretary general of the Pakistan Alpine Club, said rescuers had retrieved the body of one of the two missing Japanese climbers after days of searching on Spantik, also known as the Golden Peak.
The climbers went missing while hiking on Wednesday.
The Golden Peak is known for its distinctive golden color at sunrise and sunset and is a popular tourist destination. In a statement, Haidri quoted Shigar town governor Waliullah Farahi as saying the body of the Japanese climber had been moved to a safer location.
Haidri said Pakistani authorities were in contact with the Japanese embassy in Islamabad to confirm the identities of the dead climbers.
The Pakistan Mountaineering Club had earlier said the two Japanese who went missing on Wednesday were attempting to summit the 7,027-metre (23,000-foot) Spantik peak. It identified them as Tatsuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi.
Several climbers die each year in Pakistan attempting to summit the world’s highest mountains, including K2 in the country’s north.
