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A tourist from the Czech Republic died on Thursday after falling into a ravine at the Nanga Parbat base camp in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), according to officials.
The Nanga Parbat — the world’s ninth-highest mountain — is notoriously known as the “Killer Mountain”, earning its grisly nickname after more than 30 climbers died trying to conquer it before the first successful summit in 1953.
Muhammad Qasim, coordinator to the GB chief minister, told Dawn.com: “A tragic incident occurred at the Nanga Parbat base camp around 4am as a foreign tourist, Kolouchava Klara from the Czech Republic died.”
He had attributed her death to an oxygen cylinder explosion. However, Diamer Additional Deputy Commissioner Nizamuddin told Dawn.com the climber fell from a height between Camp One and Camp Two. He said the location where she fell would be traced and the recovery operation would begin thereafter.
“The team accompanying the climber had come to the base camp and informed about her death,” the official said.
“There were initial reports that the woman had died due to an oxygen cylinder explosion, but it was later confirmed that she had fallen into a ravine, which was the cause of her death.”
Qasim said she was staying in Chilas with her team since June 15 and departed for the base camp with it on June 16. They had reached Bonner Base Camp on June 17, he added.
He added that the authorities launched an investigation into the incident following the GB government’s direction and all possible assistance was being provided to the victim’s team.
A rescue operation using a helicopter was planned for tomorrow to search for Klara, he added.
In May, two climbers died on Mount Everest in the March-May climbing season of the world’s highest peak.
Last August, a climber from Skardu, Murad Sadpara, succumbed to his injuries, a day after the Pakistan Army had launched an operation to rescue him from GB’s Broad Peak.
