Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Fears grow for missing British climber on Pakistan peak

Bad weather forced rescuers to call off a search Friday for two climbers from Britain and Italy who went missing in northen Pakistan on a peak known as "Killer Mountain".

Climbers Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard were last heard from on Sunday as they climbed the Nanga Parbat, which at 8,125 metres (26,660 feet) is the world's ninth-highest peak.


They were attempting a route that has never before been successfully completed.

Heavy snowfall Friday kept a helicopter from taking off and a ground team confined to base camp in the western Himalayas.

"Snowfall has reduced the visibility and we expect snowfall for the coming three to four days, which makes it difficult for us to climb up and do a ground search," Pakistani mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara told AFP by telephone from Nanga Parbat base camp.

He said the the mountaineers had taken the notorious Mummery route, named after a mountaineer who died while attempting it in 1895. The route has never been attempted since then, he said.

"The risk of avalanche makes it (rescue) almost impossible in this weather," he added.

Sadpara, along with other four local mountaineers, were airlifted to the base camp for a ground search.

A top army aviation official said a Pakistani military helicopter that was set to search from the air was unable to take off due to the snow.

"The weather prediction for the coming few days is not good, and unfortunately it will make it very difficult for us to fly," he told AFP.

Four Russian mountaineers currently at the base camp for K2, the world's second highest mountain and also in northern Pakistan, had volunteered to join the search.

But a spokesperson for the Russians said the Nanga Parbat climbers' support team had opted instead to carry out the search using drones.

Nardi's team said on Facebook that the climbers' tent had been "spotted from a helicopter, buried under snow. Traces of avalanches can be seen".

But Karim Shah, a Pakistani mountaineer and friend of Nardi who is in contact with the team at the base camp and the search team, said that tent was spotted on a different route than the one taken by the missing climbers.

Ballard is the son of British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to conquer Mount Everest solo and without bottled oxygen.

She died descending K2 in 1995.

The search was delayed because rescue teams were forced to wait for permission to send up a helicopter after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday in response to escalating tensions with India.

More For You

Court to review teen's sentence in Bhim Kohli case
Bhim Kohli

Court to review teen's sentence in Bhim Kohli case

THE seven-year prison sentence handed to a 15-year-old boy convicted of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Sen Kohli is to be reviewed under the UK’s Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

The Attorney General’s Office confirmed on Friday (5) that the teenager’s sentence will now be considered by the Court of Appeal.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dalai Lama hopes to live 'beyond 130 years'

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama attends a prayer meet held for his long life at the Dalai Lama temple in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, India, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Dalai Lama hopes to live 'beyond 130 years'

THE Dalai Lama said on Saturday (5) he hopes to live until he is more than 130 years old, two decades longer than his previous prediction, following his assurance to followers that he would reincarnate as the spiritual head of the faith upon his death.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking during a ceremony organised by his followers to offer prayers for his long life, ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday (6), and as China insists it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama told Reuters in December he might live to 110.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK heatwave by mid-July

Daytime temperatures meeting or exceeding set thresholds of 25°C

iStock

Met Office warns of potential third UK heatwave by mid-July

Key points

  • Met Office forecasts rising temperatures by mid-July
  • Possible third heatwave after record-breaking June
  • High pressure system likely to bring hot air from the Atlantic
  • Yellow rain warning and flood alerts issued in parts of Scotland and Cumbria

Possible heatwave to return by mid-July

The UK could experience its third heatwave in a month by mid-July, the Met Office has said. Forecasters expect rising heat and humidity during the second weekend of July, following two weekends of unusually warm weather in late June.

June was officially the hottest on record in England, and the return of high temperatures could mean another heatwave for parts of the country. However, the Met Office cautioned that it is too early to confirm how hot conditions will get.

Keep ReadingShow less
crypto

Two men have been jailed for defrauding investors of £1.5 million through a fake crypto investment scheme. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Two jailed over £1.5m crypto investment scam

TWO people who duped investors of £1.5 million by selling fake investments in crypto have been jailed for 12 years, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.

Raymondip Bedi, of Bromley, and Patrick Mavanga, of Peckham, conned at least 65 people by cold-calling them between February 2017 and June 2019. They operated companies including CCX Capital and Astaria Group LLP.

Keep ReadingShow less
Manchester Police probes over 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects

Photo for representation. (iStock)

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Manchester Police probes over 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects

GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE is now investigating more than 1,000 child sexual abuse suspects, following years of public criticism and institutional failings in tackling child sexual exploitation.

A new report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has revealed the force has made “significant improvements” in dealing with group-based sexual abuse and related crimes.

Keep ReadingShow less