Body Found on Pakistan Mountain Identified as Missing Japan Man

New Delhi, June 20 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese Embassy in Pakistan has identified a body found on Spantik peak in the country’s northern region as a Japanese man in his 50s.

He and another Japanese man went missing earlier this month while climbing the 7,027-meter peak in the Karakorum Range.

The embassy refrained from disclosing his identity in detail for privacy reasons. But according to local authorities and other sources, it is the body of Ryuseki Hiraoka, 55, from Yamanashi Prefecture. He was an experienced mountain guide.

The other Japanese climber, Atsushi Taguchi, 36, from Tokyo, still remains unaccounted for.

Believing that Taguchi fell into a crevasse or is buried under snow, local search party members have stopped trying to find him since Sunday. They have yet to decide when to resume the search.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]