Rescuers Pull 2 Off K2; Seek 3rd

Two helicopters are on a mission to save an Italian climber and evacuate four others on the world’s second-highest peak, AP reports. Stranded on K2 after an avalanche, Marco Confrontola has “serious frostbite,” said a local official. Two Dutch climbers have already been rescued. Reports vary on the weekend climb's death toll, but a Pakistani minister said 11 were confirmed dead—"the worst" accident "on any of our peaks."

The outlook for the missing is bleak, said a US climber. “Once their hands and feet are frozen, they really are unable to move on their own power, and it takes other people to carry them down.” (More Himalayas stories.)