ISLAMABAD: A mountaineer from a five-member Russian team went missing at 6,400 metres on

Pakistan

’s

Gasherbrum IV

when an

avalanche

struck while they were on a mission to retrieve the body of another Russian who had gone missing on the same

mountain

last year.
“Mikhail Mironov and Sergei Mironov were stranded on the mountain after sustaining serious injuries, while Alexey Bautin and Evgeni Lablokov were safely airlifted by a Pakistan Army helicopter to Skardu on Saturday evening.

Sergei Nilov went missing,” said Akhtar Shigri, a police officer responsible for the security of foreign climbers in northern Shigar district.
A rescue mission will be launched as soon as weather conditions permit, Shigri added.
An ice formation, possibly a serac, collapsed on the mountain on Saturday, causing a “catastrophic event” for the five-member team on the mission to retrieve Dmitry Golovchenko’s body, said Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary Karrar Haidri.

Nilov had survived a near-fatal fall from the same mountain in Sept last year with Golovchenko. Nilov was rescued via helicopter from the base camp, while Golovchenko had gone missing.
Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan, home to some of the highest peaks in the world, is a major tourist destination where paragliding and other sports activities often turn tragic. Last week, Pakistani mountaineer Murad Sadpara succumbed to head injuries while descending Broad Peak. This summer, five Japanese climbers and a Brazilian paraglider lost their lives in Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountain range in separate incidents.