A South Korean climber who has been missing since Monday could have died on Broad Peak in Pakistan, according to fears of the authorities. Kim Hong Bin has been missing since the descent from the 8051 meter high mountain in the Pakistani Karakoram Mountains, as the Pakistani Alpine Club announced. The news agency Yonhap reported, citing the Union of Asian Alpine Associations (UAAA), that contact with Kim had lost during the descent to 7,900 meters. The South Korean had previously climbed the 14 highest mountains in the world as the first person with a disability.
It is believed that Kim slipped and fell into a crevasse on the Chinese side of the mountain.
Senior Pakistani government official Sifat Khan told AFP that there was little chance Kim could survive long in the harsh conditions on the mountain.
"It is believed that he is dead." The South Korean was reportedly part of an expedition accompanied by porters. A search will be started as soon as the weather permits.
Kim lost his fingers 30 years ago due to frostbite from a solo ascent of 6,190-meter-high Denali (formerly Mount McKinley) in Alaska.
According to the Alpine Association, Kim is the 44th person and the seventh South Korean to have climbed the 14 highest mountains so far.
In Pakistan there are repeated fatal accidents involving mountaineers trying to climb the eight-thousanders in the country. An Irish, a Chilean and a Pakistani climber went missing this year when they made a daring attempt to climb K2 in the winter. They were pronounced dead and their bodies were never found. A Bulgarian and two other mountaineers also died this year during a winter expedition on K2.