Trapped Italian climbers rescued from Nanga Parbat

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Trapped Italian climbers rescued from Nanga Parbat

* British climber missing for the past six days on another peak in northern Pakistan

GILGIT: Two Italian mountaineers stranded for 10 days on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan were rescued on Thursday, members of a Pakistan Army rescue team said.

The climbers, Simon Kehrer and Walter Nones, had been stranded since July 15 when their colleague, Karl Unterkircher, fell into a crevasse and died.

"The weather had been bad but we have successfully rescued them after they descended to about 19,000 feet today," army pilot Lt Col Moinuddin told Reuters shortly after he airlifted the pair by helicopter to Gilgit.

Askari Aviation confirmed the operation on its website. It said rescuers spotted and rescued Kehrer first and then retrieved Nones, according to AP.

"They were in good health and looked well when rescued," Oddo Sergio, a spokesman for the Italian embassy, told AFP. The pilot said the climbers would be sent to Islamabad on Friday.

British climber: Separately on Thursday, officials were searching for a British climber who has been missing for the past six days on another peak in northern Pakistan, AFP reported.

Benjamin Cheek went missing after leaving his two companions to attempt a solo ascent up the 6,300-metre Shimshal Whitehorn Mountain, they said. "I can confirm that Cheek is missing," spokesman for the British High Commission (embassy), Aidan Liddle, told AFP. "A search is on to rescue him." agencies

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg7_18