In a tragic incident, another Japanese climber, Onishi Hiroshi, lost his life after falling into a crevasse on the 7,027-metre Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Nagar district.
Confirming the incident, Deputy Commissioner Nagar Attaur Rehman Kakar said that Hiroshi, 64, was part of a four-member Japanese team that had hired two porters toscale the 7,027-meter peak.
“The team had reached the summit on July 1 and was descending when the incident occurred on July 2, the official said, adding that the climber's body was recovered and brought to the camp on July 3.
Last month, one of two Japanese climbers had been found dead and his body was recovered from a mountain in northern areas.
Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi were attempting to summit the 7,027-metre Spantik Mountain in the Karakoram Range before they went missing.
“The dead body of a Japanese climber was found, and a search is ongoing for the second climber,” Wali Ullah Falahi, the Shigar district deputy commissioner had said.
The body was found 300 metres below Camp 3, he had added.
Naiknam Karim, head of Adventure Tours Pakistan which organised the expedition, said that “it is not clear whose dead body has been found”.
The pair had reached base camp on June 3 and were attempting the climb without the help of porters. They were last seen on June 10 and the alarm was raised the following day by fellow climbers who had expected to cross paths with them.
Spantik, also known as the Golden Peak, is described as a “relatively accessible and straightforward peak” on the website of a tourist company, Adventure Tours.
Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains higher than 8,000 metres, including K2, the world’s second highest.