Pakistani rescuers have saved one climber and tried to help another stranded on K2, the world's second-highest peak, as the death toll from an ice avalanche rose to 11.

"At least 11 climbers have died. This is one of the worst incidents in the history of K2 climbing," Sultan Alam, a Pakistani mountaineering guide said from the peak's base camp at an altitude of 5,200 metres.

Those killed in the worst disaster on K2 in 20 years now include three Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis, one Serbian, an Irishman, a Norwegian and a Frenchman, he said.

"One Dutch was rescued by helicopter from K2 this morning while an Italian is still at an altitude of 7,200 metres," said Mr Alam. Another helicopter went up to help the stranded Italian but could not touch down and returned after a brief contact with the climber, he said.

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"Our four high-altitude porters left a while ago and it is expected that they will bring the Italian climber down this evening," he said.

Gerard McDonnell, an oil worker from Limerick who had just become the first Irishman to reach the 8,611m (28,251ft) summit in northern Pakistan, was among the missing and has been given up for dead, according to one of his friends.

Catastrophe struck late on Friday, when a chunk of ice broke from a serac, a pillar or cuboid of ice, and tore away fixed lines from a steep gully known as the Bottleneck, above 8,200m. Several expeditions were on the mountain at the time, including a Korean team that was making its descent after reaching the peak on Pakistan’s border with China. The Korean group lost five members, including the two Nepalese.

“They were returning from the summit when an avalanche at the Bottleneck hit them,” Ghulam Mohammad, owner of Blue Sky Travels and Tours, said. “Our liaison officer at the base camp confirmed the death of five.”

Three more deaths were confirmed by Brigadier Mohammad Akram, vice-president of Pakistan’s Adventure Foundation. “We don’t have names of dead climbers, but it has been confirmed that one Dutch, one Norwegian and one French are in the tally of dead,” he said.

It was the deadliest tragedy on K2 since 1986, when 12 climbers died from exposure. In August 1995 six people fell or disappeared during a storm, including the British climber Alison Hargreaves.

The ice fall on Friday also left about a dozen climbers stranded at the Bottleneck. A few of them were either seen or reported to have made their way back to camps high on the mountain. The seven surviving members of the Korean team had reached lower camps.

A spotter aircraft was on standby yesterday, waiting for clouds to clear, before flying over the sides of K2 to search for the missing. A team of climbers had also started to take supplies up the mountain, while helicopters were being organised to bring injured climbers down today.

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