Dutch Survivor of K2 Avalanche Describes Ordeal
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Blinded by the glare off the snow and ice, attempting a perilous descent down K2 to save his life, the Dutch mountaineer came upon three Korean climbers.
One sat dazed in the snow. Another held a rope. The third was suspended at the other end, hanging upside down.
“They were trying to survive,” the Dutch mountaineer, Wilco van Rooijen, recalled yesterday speaking by phone with the Associated Press from a military hospital where he was being treated for frostbitten toes, “but I had also to survive because I was getting snow blind.” He said he offered help but they declined, believing help was already on the way.
The Ministry of Tourism said the 11 believed dead in one of mountaineering’s worst disasters included three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis, and mountaineers from France, Ireland, Serbia, and Norway.
The reported toll from the avalanche was the highest from a single incident on K2 since at least 1995, when seven climbers perished after being caught in a fierce storm. About 280 people have climbed K2 since 1954, when the summit was first reached. Dozens have died trying.
Mr. van Rooijen, who suffered a broken arm and head injuries from a rockfall during an attempt on K2 in 1995, said his latest ordeal left him with severe frostbite that could cost him several toes. He said he would continue climbing.