Army rescues two foreign mountain climbers

Pakistan Army Aviation pilots rescued two foreign mountaineers from Broad Peak, Baltoro Glacier, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday. In a statement, ISPR said that mountaineers-Donald Allen Bowie, a US citizen and Lotta Henriikka Nakyva from Finland-were part of an international winter expedition attempting to summit Broad Peak but were stranded en route due to sickness.

Last week, the French military conferred medals on the Pakistan Army Aviation pilots who rescued a French mountaineer from the Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest peak of the world, in a daring late-night rescue mission in 2018.

In January 2018, French mountaineer Elisabeth Revol was rescued from the Nanga Parbat, known as the 'killer mountain', in extreme weather. According to ISPR, Army Aviation pilots had rescued her on the request of the French Embassy.

Her Polish climbing partner Tomasz Mackiewicz was, however, not as lucky as the rescuers, who included volunteers from a Polish expedition, had to call off the search due to harsh weather conditions with the temperature at 60 degrees below freezing point. Both climbers had gone missing at an altitude of 7,200 metres under the top dome of the mountain while trying to conquer the 8,126-metre-tall Nanga Parbat.