Search for missing US mountaineers suspended

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have suspended a helicopter search for two American climbers who went missing late last month while trying to scale a mountain in the country’s far north.

However, high-altitude rescuers are still continuing their search for Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson who have not been seen since August 22, a day after beginning their ascent of the 7,285-metre Ogre-II peak off the Choktoi Glacier in Gilgit-Baltistan.

“The helicopter search was suspended after authorities did not get the go-ahead from their families and friends,” Karrar Haidri, a spokesman for the Alpine Club of Pakistan told AFP. However, a search by high-altitude rescuers is continuing, he said.  “Even on Saturday, the rescuers failed to find any sign of the two climbers,” Haidri added.

Another official, who did not want to be identified, told AFP the helicopter-search can be resumed as and when Pakistani authorities are asked to do so. Earlier, the helicopter search had been delayed for days because of adverse weather conditions. Authorities said that a team of local high-altitude rescuers has been searching for the missing climbers for almost a week but bad weather prevented them from ascending the peak.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.