GILGIT: Polish mountaineer Rafal Fronia, who was forced to abandon his attempt to scale K2 due to an injury, has been airlifted to Skardu.

According to Polish media, the climber was diagnosed with a forearm fracture and was given necessary medical treatment at the base camp. He was now waiting for a flight to take him to Islamabad from Skardu. Mr Fronia with his team of 12 Polish mountaineers were on an expedition to scale K2 — a task no one has so far accomplished in winter.

Team members Adam Bielecki and Rafal Fronia were hit by a large stone on Friday while climbing from K2 base camp to camp 2. Mr Fronia’s forearm was fractured at an altitude of 5,900 metres. An army aviation helicopter was then dispatched from Skardu to K2 base camp on Sunday.

The tour operator of the expedition, Ali Asghar Porik, told Dawn that the mountaineer was now in a stable condition. He said as soon as the weather cleared, a flight would take the Polish climber to Islamabad from where he would return to his country.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2018