Bulgarian climber found dead on K2

GILGIT: A Bulgarian mountaineer has been found dead in his tent on the world’s second highest mountain, sources said on Tuesday.

The victim, identified as Peter, was part of a 16-member multinational expedition climbing K2 from Pakistan’s side at Skardu.

“The team had reached Camp III when Peter’s teammates found his body in a tent,” an official  told The Express Tribune. The cause of his death could not be ascertained immediately.

The team had started their journey in the first week of July from Skardu. Apart from an Iranian woman, the expedition includes mountaineers from Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain and the United States.

Lino Lacedelli and his fellow Italian Achille Compagnoni became the first mountaineers to climb K2 on July 31, 1954. Standing 8,611 metres high, it is the tallest peak in the world after Mount Everest.

Mountain accidents are common in the region, which is home to 14 of the world’s tallest peaks, including K2.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2010.