Rescuers in Pakistan call off efforts to save Polish climber
ISLAMABAD — Volunteers rescued a French mountaineer from a Himalayan peak but called off efforts to retrieve a Polish climber who was declared dead after the dramatic and treacherous rescue effort.
Elisabeth Revol and Tomasz Mackiewicz were climbing Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest peak in the world at 8,126 metres (26,660 feet), but called for help Friday, fellow climber Masha Gordon said.
Four volunteers from a separate Polish expedition set out to find them and managed to reach Revol, a renowned female mountaineer who was suffering from frostbite on her feet and could not walk.
Poor weather prevented the team from reaching Mackiewicz, who had snow blindness and altitude sickness, Karrar Haidri, a top official in the Pakistan Alpine Federation, said Sunday.