NEW DELHI: The two Japanese men who fell from K2, the second-highest mountain in the world after Mount Everest, on Saturday have been identified as famed alpinists belonging to Japanese mountaineering equipment shop operator Ishii Sports.

They are Kazuya Hiraide, 45, who is from Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, and Kenro Nakajima, 39, from the western prefecture of Nara, according to the company.

The safety of both men, who are also mountain photographers, is not known. K2, which is 8,611 meters high, is located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan.

Both Hiraide and Nakajima have received the prestigious Piolets d’Or award, given to outstanding mountain climbers, and are known to the world as top alpinists. Nakajima has appeared in Japanese television programs.

According to Ishii Sports and a local mountaineering organization, Hiraide and Nakajima fell from a height of about 7,000 meters while climbing the western cliff of K2 on Saturday.

The two were identified from a helicopter, but landing is difficult due to issues with the altitude and slope angle, so efforts are underway to rescue them from the ground.

The Japanese Embassy in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is gathering information from local authorities while providing necessary support such as contacting people concerned, an embassy official said.

Between June and this month, two of three Japanese men who were climbing Spantik, a 7,027-meter peak in the Karakoram range, died partly by falling from the mountain. The other man has not been found.

JIJI Press