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Austrian Mountain Climber Dies in Pakistan Avalanche

by Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD --

   Army officials in Pakistan confirmed Sunday an avalanche has killed an
   Austrian mountaineer, while his two British companions have been
   retrieved alive by a helicopter rescue mission.
   An army spokesman says Austrian Christian Huber, and Britons Bruce
   Normand and Miller Timothy were hit trapped on the 7,338 meter Ultar
   Sar peak near Hunza Valley in the Karakoram mountain range.
   Major-General Asif Ghafoor tweeted a "daring mission" by army pilots
   successfully rescued Normand and Timothy, but "Christian Huber from
   Austria had succumbed to avalanche."

   The three were sleeping in their tents when the avalanche hit them, the
   DAWN newspaper quoted organizers as saying.

   British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Thomas Drew, praised the
   Pakistani military's rescue effort.

   "A remarkable and dangerous rescue. Our gratitude to the Pakistan Army
   pilots who rescued two British climbers trapped by an avalanche on
   Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza. Our thoughts with their Austrian fellow
   climber who did not survive the avalanche," tweeted Drew.

   Pakistan's northern Gilgit Baltistan region, where Ultar Sar is
   located, is host to five peaks over 8,000 meters, including the world's
   second highest peak, known as K-2, and more than 100 peaks of over
   7,000 meters.