Source::RSS
Islamabad,
Two Pakistani army helicopters resumed Monday the search for three mountaineers who went missing while attempting to scale K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, as their family and friends became increasingly concerned for their fate.
Sadpara’s son said in a video statement released to media the chances of the mountaineers' survival in the harsh winter conditions were extremely low. Sadpara, an experienced climber, had earlier scaled the world’s eight highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest in the Himalayas, and was attempting to climb K2 in winter.
During the search missions on Saturday and Sunday, helicopters had found no sign of the climbers, said Karar Haideri, secretary at the Pakistan alpine Club. He said a statement from the authorities was expected later Monday. “Miracles do happen and the hope for a miracle is still there," he said.
Sadpara's son Sajid Ali Sadpara, himself a mountaineer who was part of the expedition at the start but later returned to base camp after his oxygen regulator malfunctioned, said their chances after “spending two to three days in the winter at 8,000 (metres' altitude) are next to none."
The younger Sadpara's oxygen regulator had malfunctioned when he reached K2's most dangerous point, known as Bottle Neck, earlier last week. There, he waited for his father and two other climbers for more than 20 hours but with no sign of them, he descended.
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