PESHAWAR, Pakistan :Rescue teams on Wednesday continued to search for missing German biathlete and double Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier, who was seriously injured in Pakistan after being struck by a rockfall while climbing, a provincial government spokesperson said.
The accident occurred on Monday when Dahlmeier was hit by a landslide in Hushe Valley in the northern mountain range in Gilgit-Baltistan province, while attempting to summit the 6,094-metre Laila Peak.
A helicopter conducted a search operation on Laila Peak on Tuesday evening but “found no signs of life”, spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said.
“She is missing. We are searching. No one knows where she is,” he said.
Two teams of expert climbers from Germany and the United States have been deployed, he said. Faraq added that a helicopter rescue operation was not possible due to adverse weather conditions. “Nothing is visible down there,” he said.
The accident occurred around noon on July 28, at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters at Laila Peak, said the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Dahlmeier, 31, was climbing with her mountaineering partner when a sudden rockfall hit her, resulting in significant injuries, it said in a statement.
The provincial government spokesperson identified the climbing partner as Marina Eva Krauss.
Krauss successfully descended to base camp and is reported to be in good health, he added.
Dahlmeier retired from biathlon in 2019, aged 25, a year after becoming the first female biathlete to achieve a sprint and pursuit double at the same Olympics.
Her management did not respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.
Pakistan’s northern mountainous regions have experienced heavy flooding and landslides, killing several local tourists during the current monsoon spell of rains.
Flooding and other rain-related accidents have killed 288 people in Pakistan since the monsoon season began in late June, says the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.
(Additional reporting by Kirsti Knolle in Berlin; Writing by Asif Shahzad, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
