Pakistani Military Helicopters Staged a High-risk Rescue Operation

One of the world's top mountaineers, Karl Unterkircher died when he fell into a crevasse on Nanga Parbat (literally, 'Naked Mountain') also called the Killer Mountain or Man Eater, located in Pakistan. It is the ninth highest peak on earth. Two Italian mountaineers, Simon Kehrer and Walter Nones were stranded on the mountain for 10 days. A Pakistan army pilot Lt-Col Moinuddin airlifted the pair in his helicopter to the northern town of Gilgit. The two men related their ordeal after arriving in Islamabad. According to them, Unterkircher (a 37-year-old, also an Italian), was “picking his way up a daunting, uncharted route on the 26,810-foot Nanga Parbat on July 16 when the accident occurred.” Please see NP’s Iwona Kellie’s related story: Helicopter rescues 2 Italian climbers in Pakistan in “Sports”, posted on July 24.