On Monday, expedition operator Imagine Nepal proudly announced that its entire team of 15 members had reached the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain on earth. Now, a death has cast a shadow over the success.
According to consistent reports from Pakistan, a Chinese female climber from the team was hit by falling rocks yesterday, Tuesday, and died. The accident occurred between Camp 1 (at around 6,000 meters) and the Advanced Base Camp (5,300 m), it said.
On Monday, around 40 climbers from several teams had stood on the summit of K2 at 8,611 meters.
Expedition leader had a bad feeling
Expedition leader Mingma Gyalje Sherpa had already had an uneasy feeling when they set off. “We are confident on reaching the summit but worried about rockfall below Camp1 to ABC,” the head of Imagine Nepal had let us know via Instagram.
The accident is reminiscent of the tragic death of German mountaineer Laura Dahlmeier, who also died in a rockfall on the six-thousander Laila Peak at the end of July.
It was the second death on K2 this summer. In mid-July, a Pakistani mountaineer died when an avalanche hit Camp 1.
