ISLAMABAD: A female Chinese climber has died after being hit by rockfall while descending from Pakistan's K2, the world's second-highest peak, local officials said on Thursday.
Guan Jing was part of an expedition team of around 30 climbers from China, the US, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal who summitted the 8,611-metre mountain in northern Pakistan, said Karrar Haidri from the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).
She was on her way back to the base camp when falling rocks swept her away, said Haidri from the ACP, which oversees mountain expeditions in Pakistan.
Army helicopters were waiting for favourable weather to retrieve the climber's body from the world's most dangerous peak at the border between Pakistan and China, he added.
Jing was the fourth climber who died while on an expedition in northern Pakistan this climbing season, and the second to die on K2,the ACP's Irfan Shigri said.
German Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier, a former biathlete and experienced climber, died after being hit by rockfall on Pakistan's little-known Laila Peak last month. Pakistan is home to five of the world's 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, making it a popular destination for climbers. — dpa
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