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TOKYO (Kyodo) — The operation to rescue two Japanese climbers who fell from K2, the world’s second-highest mountain in Pakistan, has been suspended, their company said Tuesday.
Ishii Sports Co. said it made the decision the same day, with the climbers’ families in agreement, as rescuers faced difficulties approaching the area where Kazuya Hiraide, 45, and Kenro Nakajima, 39, were confirmed to have been located.
The two climbers, who were also photographers, fell from a height of some 7,000 meters off the 8,611-meter K2 on Saturday.
A helicopter confirmed the locations of the two soon after the accident but could not land, according to Ishii Sports.
The Tokyo-based company made public the halt of rescue efforts in a statement on its website Tuesday afternoon, saying it should be the last update about the incident.
Hiraide received France’s prestigious “Piolet d’Or” mountaineering award three times. In 2013, he filmed the ascent of Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura, then 80, to the summit of Mt. Everest.
Nakajima went on three overseas expeditions and successfully conquered two previously unclimbed peaks while still a university student. He won the prize twice.
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