Karakoram Mountains: Broad Peak on the right, K2 in the background (archive image)
Photo:
WOLFGANG RATTAY / REUTERS
Army helicopters and climbers search for South Korean climber Kim Hong Bin in northern Pakistan.
The 57-year-old, who is missing all ten fingers, probably fell into a crevasse on Sunday after climbing the summit of the 8,047-meter-high Broad Peak in the South Asian Karakoram Mountains, said Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Pakistani Alpine Club.
The news agency Yonhap reported, citing the Union of Asian Alpine Associations (UAAA), that contact with Kim was lost during the descent to 7,900 meters above sea level.
"We're trying our best to find him," said Haidri, whose club organizes expeditions for mountaineers in Pakistan.
According to South Korean media reports on Monday, Kim had climbed the 14 highest mountains on earth with Broad Peak and is the first person with a disability known to have made it.
Sucked frostbite during a solo ascent
Kim lost his fingers 30 years ago due to frostbite from a solo ascent of 6,190-meter-high Denali (formerly Mount McKinley) in Alaska.
According to the Alpine Association, Kim is the 44th person and the seventh South Korean to have climbed the 14 highest mountains so far.
In Pakistan there are repeated fatal accidents involving mountaineers trying to climb the eight-thousanders in the country.
An Irish, a Chilean and a Pakistani climber went missing this year when they made a daring attempt to climb K2 in the winter.
They have not yet been found and pronounced dead.
A Bulgarian and two other mountaineers also died this year during a winter expedition on K2.
bbr / dpa