Pakistan army launches helicopter search for missing Tom Ballard and climbing companion

The Pakistan army has launched a helicopter search for a British climber missing on a mountain after commercial air space was closed amid military tensions with India.

Tom Ballard, from Derbyshire, whose mother died on K2 in 1995, has been reported missing on Nanga Parbat, nicknamed the 'Killer Mountain' with his Italian co-climber Daniele Nardi.

Plans for an initial search operation were prevented when Pakistan closed its air space after it shot down two Indian military planes, but two army helicopters were drafted in on Thursday.

The Italian ambassador in Pakistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, said: "Notwithstanding there is a no-fly zone, the army helicopters are flying. They are surveying the areas in which Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard should be."

Thomas Drew, the British high commissioner to Pakistan, was also involved in the talks to begin search and rescue attempts.