Italian K2 survivor airlifted to hospital

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani army helicopter airlifted a frost-bitten Italian climber to the nearest hospital on Wednesday, a day after he was brought down to the K2 base camp following the worst-ever climbing disaster on the mountain.

Marco Confortola, 37, was the last survivor found following a climb on the world's second highest peak that resulted in the deaths of 11 fellow mountaineers.

"He has been rescued and he is probably about to reach Skardu on the helicopter. He'll receive some medical treatment once he gets there," said Sergio Oddo, a spokesman for the Italian embassy in Islamabad.

"He complained about a lot of pain," Oddo said. "He has some difficulties in walking,"

Other members of his team were also flown to Skardu, a small northern Pakistani town surrounded by mountains on the Indus river. Oddo expected Confortola to be brought to Islamabad later in the day.

The climber was a member of a multi-national expedition that summited the 8,611 meters (28,240 foot) peak, along with a South Korean team on Friday.

Though a Serbian climber from another group and a Pakistani fell during the ascent, most of the fatalities resulted from an ice fall soon after climbers who reached the top began their descent.

Some fell to their deaths, others froze, and some went missing in the thin air above 8,000 meters, known to mountaineers as the "Death Zone" as the body and brain begin shutting down due to lack of oxygen.

Other survivors were airlifted off the mountain on Monday, but Confortola was still at an unsafe altitude for the helicopter to fly.

A rescue party reached him on Monday evening, and after four nights on the mountain, the stricken climber walked down to Base Camp on Tuesday afternoon.

(Reporting by Kamran Haider; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Jerry Norton)