Rescuers locate missing female S. Korean climber in Himalayas

SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Rescuers spotted a South Korean female climber who fell off a cliff while descening a Himalayan mountain but it was unknown whether she was alive, her sponsor in Seoul said Sunday.

Ko Mi-young, 41, went missing late Saturday after her team members saw her fall
off while making her descent, according to Kolon Sport. The team reached the peak
of the 8,126-meter Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain on earth, late
Friday.
Rescuers aboard a helicopter located a body appeared to be Ko's some 100 meters
above the Messner route Sunday afternoon, but search efforts had to be suspended
after sunset and amid bad weather, the agent said.
"It was not yet known whether Ms. Ko was alive or dead," a Kolon official said,
"With blizzard and dark conditions, the rescue efforts will have to be resumed
tomorrow morning."
Ko will have to be airlifted by helicopter as the location where she was found
was difficult to reach, skirted by narrow ravines up to 2,000 meters deep, the
official said.
Fellow climbers have asked the Pakistani government for help in the search, the
agent said.
Ko became one of the few female climbers to reach the top of Nanga Parbat and
also one of a handful of Asian women who have conquered Mount Everest, the
world's highest peak. She reached the peak in May 2007.
Ko has said she aspires to climb all 14 of the mountains, a feat achieved by only
13 people in the world -- including South Korean climbers Um Hong-gil, Park
Young-seok, and Han Wang-yong. She has three to go.