Six mountaineers who were trapped by an avalanche on a mountain in northern Pakistan have been rescued.

Helicopters reached the four Italian and two Pakistani climbers on Tuesday in a remote area of the Ghizer district near the Afghan border, officials said.

They were scaling a 5,000m (17,000ft) peak in the Hindu Kush range when the avalanche struck on Monday, killing a Pakistani member of their team.

The six survivors did not have life-threatening injuries, officials added.

They are being treated at a military hospital in the city of Gilgit, Naiknam Karim, chief executive of Adventure Tours of Pakistan, told the New York Times.

The group had been led by Italian climber Tarcisio Bellò.

His wife Isabella Bellò told the Italian news agency Ansa that her husband had suffered some broken bones.

The body of the climber who died – named as Mohammad Imtiaz – is to be brought down later, an official quoted by the Associated Press said.

Northern Pakistan is a popular climbing destination because of the region’s dramatic peaks, and fatalities are not uncommon.

In March, the bodies of Italian Daniele Nardi and Briton Tom Ballard were recovered from a mountain in Pakistan two weeks after they disappeared at an altitude of about 6,300m.

The pair had been attempting to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat – the world’s ninth highest mountain.

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