Missing Italian, British climbers found dead on Pak's 'killer mountain'
Islamabad: The bodies of two mountaineers from the UK and Italy were found Saturday in northern Pakistan, nearly two weeks after the duo went missing while trying to climb Nanga Parbat in Gilgit-Baltisitan region, the Italian ambassador said Saturday .
Italian national Daniele Nardi, 42, and Tom Ballard, a 30-year-old Briton, went missing on February 24 as they climbed the mountain, which at 8,125 metres (26,660 feet) is the world's ninth-highest peak. Nanga Parbat is also known as the "killer mountain".
Italian ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo tweeted that the bodies of the two men had been identified from aerial photos. "It hurts to announce that the search is officially over," he wrote.
"The search team have confirmed that the silhouettes spotted... at about 5,900 meters are those of Daniele and Tom," he tweeted.
Ballard and Nardi were attempting a new route on the Mummery Rib, a steep and dangerous avalanche-prone area on the Himalayan peak.
The pair had lost contact with the base camp, prompting a search by other fellow mountaineers in collaboration with the Pakistan Army, said Karar Haidri of Alpine Club of Pakistan, which organises mountaineering and other mountain-related adventure activities.
The search was interrupted by bad weather. It also got delayed because rescue teams were forced to wait for permission to send up a helicopter after Pakistan closed its airspace on Wednesday amid escalating tensions with India following the Pulwama attack.
Haidri also shared a message sent by Nardi's family on the tragic occasion.
"We are devastated by pain; we inform you that Daniele and Tom's researches are completed. Part of them will remain forever at Nanga Parbat," the family said.
Nardi had attempted to scale Nanga Parbat in winter several times.
Ballard was the son of British climber Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to scale Mount Everest alone and without bottled oxygen. She died in 1995 at the age of 33 while descending K2, the second highest peak in the world.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
