ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Five foreign mountaineers are missing after being struck by an avalanche during their descent from the world’s second highest peak, K-2, in Pakistan, an expedition operator said on Saturday.

The mountain climbers — two Koreans, two Norwegians and a Frenchman — were returning from the summit on Friday when the accident took place at an altitude of about 8,000 metres or 26,000 feet.

“Earlier we had reports of seven missing (climbers) but one Italian and one Korean (team members) returned to a rescue centre. There is no contact with the rest of them,” Brig (retd) Mohammad Akram, vice-president of Pakistan’s Adventure Foundation, said.

Last month an Italian climber was killed on the Nanga Parbat, one of the world’s deadliest mountains, also in Pakistan. Two of his companions were rescued by Pakistani soldiers.—Reuters