Nizamuddin, manager of Adventure Tours Pakistan, displays a picture of Japanese climber Ryuseki Hiraoka, who had died while he and another climber were scaling the Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, on his laptop at his office in Skardu, Pakistan, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Hiraoka has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan and a search is still underway to find his missing colleague, officials said. (AP Photo/M.H. Balti)Nizamuddin, manager of Adventure Tours Pakistan, displays a picture of Japanese climber Atsushi Taguchi, who is missing while he and another climber were scaling the Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, on his laptop at his office in Skardu, Pakistan, Sunday, June 16, 2024. A search is still underway to find Taguchi, while rescuers have found and retrieved the body of Ryuseki Hiraoka, who has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan, officials said. (AP Photo/M.H. Balti)Nizamuddin, manager of Adventure Tours Pakistan, displays a picture of Japanese climber Ryuseki Hiraoka, who had died while he and another climber were scaling the Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, on his laptop at his office in Skardu, Pakistan, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Hiraoka has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan and a search is still underway to find his missing colleague, officials said. (AP Photo/M.H. Balti)Nizamuddin, manager of Adventure Tours Pakistan, displays a picture of Japanese climber Atsushi Taguchi, who is missing while he and another climber were scaling the Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, on his laptop at his office in Skardu, Pakistan, Sunday, June 16, 2024. A search is still underway to find Taguchi, while rescuers have found and retrieved the body of Ryuseki Hiraoka, who has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan, officials said. (AP Photo/M.H. Balti)
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Nizamuddin, manager of Adventure Tours Pakistan, displays a picture of Japanese climber Ryuseki Hiraoka, who had died while he and another climber were scaling the Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, on his laptop at his office in Skardu, Pakistan, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Hiraoka has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan and a search is still underway to find his missing colleague, officials said. (AP Photo/M.H. Balti)
PESHAWAR – A Japanese climber has died while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan and a search is still underway to find his missing colleague, officials said Saturday.
Karrar Haidri, who is the secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said that rescuers retrieved the body of one of the two missing Japanese climbers after a dayslong search operation on the Spantik Peak, which is also known as Golden Peak.
Recommended Videos
The climbers were scaling the mountain when they went missing on Wednesday.
The Golden Peak is renowned for its distinct golden hue at sunrise and sunset, making it a popular destination. In a statement, Haidri quoted a top administrator in the town of Shigar, Waliullah Falahi, as saying that 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 identity of the dead climber.
Pakistan’s Alpine Club days had earlier said that the two Japanese who went missing on Wednesday were trying to reach the summit of the 7,027-meter (23,000-foot) Spantik Peak. It had identified them as Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi.
Several climbers die in Pakistan every year while trying to reach the summit of some of the world's highest mountains, including K2, which is located in Pakistan’s north.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
