Japanese climber dies in Spantik mountain fall in Pakistan

GILGIT (AFP) - A Japanese climber fell to his death while descending a mountain in Pakistan, a local official told AFP Wednesday, weeks after two compatriots were declared dead on the same peak.

Onishi Hiroshi, 64, was returning from an expedition up the 7,027-metre (23,054-foot) Spantik mountain when the incident happened on Tuesday.

"While descending, he fell into a crevasse near Camp 2," Attaur Rehman Kakar, the Nagar district deputy commissioner, told AFP on Wednesday. "The other climber and porters recovered the dead body and brought it to Camp 1 safely," he added.

Hiroshi was one of four Japanese mountaineers who began their climb on June 10, supported by Pakistani porters. Two Japanese climbers died during a separate expedition last month.

One of their bodies was recovered, but authorities declared the other dead after the search was called off due to adverse weather conditions. Pakistan is home to five of the world's 14 mountains above 8,000 metres – including K2, the world's second highest.

Last year more than 8,900 foreigners visited the Gilgit-Baltistan region where Spantik is located, according to government figures, with the summer climbing season running from early June to late August.