Islamabad - The Pakistan Army on Sunday rescued two foreign mountaineers who had stranded on Ultar Sar mountain in Hunza Valley.

According to the ISPR, two British members of an alpinist team were trapped at a height of 19,000 feet who were evacuated by military helicopters.

An Austrian, Christian Huber, was killed and two others injured after their tent was hit by an avalanche on Saturday.

Hunza police said that two other mountaineers whose nationality was not immediately known had also been injured in the incident. They said efforts were underway to bring Huber's body and the injured mountaineers back to Islamabad.

British High Commissioner Thomas Drew has thanked the Pakistan Army for rescuing the stranded British mountaineers. In a statement, he expressed sorrow and grief over the death of the Austrian mountaineer during the expedition.

He said the mission had been “remarkable and dangerous”, adding: “Our gratitude to the Pakistan Army pilots who rescued two British climbers trapped by an avalanche on Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza.”

Mr Normand and Mr Miller were reported to be safe. Both were photographed standing alongside their rescuers soon after they were brought down. Photographs showed a helicopter landing on a narrow snow-covered ridge during the rescue.

Abdul Karim, manager of the tour company organising the men's trip, said the Britons were now going to Gilgit and would travel to the capital, Islamabad, later in the week. He said: “There are no injuries, they are safe.”

Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the military, described it as a “daring mission”.

The three climbers were hit by the avalanche at an altitude of 19,300 feet on Friday while trying to reach the summit of Ultra Sar peak near Hunza.

The army said bad weather prevented a rescue mission immediately after it was requested on Saturday, but on Sunday morning helicopters reached the area, bringing down the two climbers and the body of Huber.

The injured mountaineers were en route to Gilgit via an army helicopter, the Hunza assistant commissioner said. "The body of Austrian mountaineer Christian Huber is also being taken to Gilgit," he further said.

Photographs from the rescue show a helicopter on a sliver of the mountain not much wider than its wingspan. Fifteen failed attempts were made to climb the 24,239 ft Ultar Sar in the 1980s and 1990s, causing a number of fatalities, until a Japanese team first reached the peak in 1996.

Ultar Sar is described on mountaineering websites as a difficult and dangerous mountain to climb where there is a significant risk of avalanches.

Mr Normand, a Switzerland-based theoretical physicist, is a highly experienced climber who has scaled some of the highest peaks in the country.

The three-member expedition started in late May and was permitted to go till the first week of July. The team was being managed by Higher Ground Expeditions, a tour operating company in Hunza Valley.

Pakistan’s northern regions are home to several mountain peaks, including the K2, in the Karakorum mountains along the border between China and Pakistan, which is the world’s second highest after Mount Everest in Nepal.

Last summer, a Spanish man and an Argentinian perished in an avalanche while trying to scale Nanga Parbat, known as “Killer Mountain” due to the high number of lives it has claimed over the years.

The region is also home to three of the world's seven longest glaciers outside the polar regions. Hundreds of its mountains have never been climbed.

According to a British media, Pakistan’s military offers a rescue service to climbers who purchase insurance of around £7,000 before their trips, commandeering experienced pilots from their operations in the sensitive border region.

In January, the rescue operation for two foreign climbers stranded on Nanga Parbat, dubbed “Killer Mountain”, was delayed as they had not agreed to the service, leaving well-wishers to crowdfund nearly $140,000 to pay for it. One of the pair died.

The British Backpacker Society named Pakistan its top travel destination in 2018 thanks to “mountain scenery that is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination” and mountain tour operators have seen a surge of bookings.