Czech mountaineer Jaroslav Bánský dies in Pakistan

Czech mountaineer Jaroslav Bánský has died in Pakistan during an expedition to Masherbrum, one of the region's most famous peaks. The news was reported by Pakistani regional news channel SOST, which noted that further details of the tragedy have not yet been released.

According to the Blesk news portal, the climber was suddenly struck by a falling rock.

The death was confirmed by Adam Csörgő, spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "We regret to confirm the death of a Czech mountaineer in Pakistan. Diplomats from our embassy in Islamabad are handling the case and are in contact with the police and the tour operator."

Bánský is now the third Czech to die in the mountains abroad within a single week. Earlier, in the early hours of Wednesday, two Czech climbers died while ascending Mont Blanc in the Alps, and a third member of the same group was injured. According to the Czech Mountain Guides Association, one of those who died was a mountain guide, while the other two members of the expedition were his clients.

In the Karakoram, Bánský was part of a Czech expedition together with climbers Zdeněk Hák and Radoslav Groh, according to social media posts. As the specialist portal Lezec.cz reported about a month ago, the trio planned to make the first ascent of a roughly 7,800-metre peak during their approximately six-week expedition — a summit that, according to Zdeněk Hák, no one had reached in the past 40 years or so.

The same trio had previously made the first ascent of Muchu Chhish, a 7,480-metre peak in the Karakoram, while Hák and Groh also completed the first ascent of the southwest face of Hunza Peak, which stands at 6,300 metres.

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By the Around Prague newsroom