Family of climber believe he has died on K2

The family of Limerick climber, Gerard McDonnell have confirmed that they now believe he died while descending K2, the world's second highest mountain.

Mr McDonnell, from Kilcornan in Co Limerick, became the first Irish person to scale the mountain, on the border between China and Pakistan, when he reached the summit on Friday.

The alarm was raised yesterday, when the group of Dutch explorers he had been climbing with failed to descend the mountain.

In a statement earlier today, Mr McDonnell’s brother in law, Damien O'Brien said the family are devastated.

“We are extremely proud of the many heroic and brave achievements of our son and brother Gerard,” he said.

“The last few days have been a rollercoaster of emotions, as we celebrated with joy his historic achievement and now we must come to terms with the untimely death of a great son brother and friend.”