LONDON, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - An Irish climber was given up for dead by an experienced mountaineering friend Sunday, on top of nine confirmed victims of a chunk of falling ice on the world's second-highest peak.

Hopes were also fading fast for two others -- Frenchman Hugues d'Aubarede and his sherpa named only as Karim -- caught up in the accident, which happened late Friday near the summit of the Himalayan peak K2.

Gerard McDonnell, 37, an Alaskan-based oil worker from Limerick in southwestern Ireland who had previously climbed Mount Everest, will not be coming back alive, his climbing friend Pat Falvey told AFP.

'He was one of the strongest climbers in the world and it is with great sadness that we now have to mourn his passing.... At present it is believed that anyone who is classified as position unknown will not be coming back,' Falvey said.

'We are absolutely and totally shocked. He's been on a number of expeditions with me,' Falvey added.

McDonnell's satellite phone was found in some belongings two surviving climbers brought back to camp, the Irish Independent newspaper reported.

The French climber and his sherpa were similarly presumed to be among the victims.

'I'm not optimistic, because above 8,000 metres (26,247 feet), there is little chance of survival,' their climbing friend Raphaele Vernay told LCI television.

'We have to wait a day to confirm. We have seen cases where climbers reappear at base camp several days later, looking extremely haggard,' he added.

Three South Koreans, two Nepalis, a Dutch national, a Serb, a Norwegian and a Pakistani climber were confirmed dead on the notoriously treacherous Himalayan peak, Pakistani tour operators said.

Three Dutch colleagues who were on McDonnell's expedition were, however, making their way back to base camp, according to Michel Schuurman of Incipit Expeditie management, which organised logistics and sponsorship for the Dutch team.

Wilco van Rooijen and Cas van de Gevel, both with serious frostbite injuries, were last heard of making their descent alongside uninjured team member Pemba Sherpa, Schuurman said.

'The lower they come to the ground, the closer they are to safety. But they are totally exhausted and not out of danger yet,' said Schuurman.

The four reached the summit late Friday afternoon alongside members of several other teams.

Van de Gevel and Sherpa went back towards the summit to find Van Rooijen.

If all goes well, the three should arrive at base camp on Sunday night or Monday morning, said Schuurman.

'There has been no signal from Gerard since he set off on Saturday morning,' Schuurman added. 'All we've had was an unconfirmed sighting about three hours later.'

The pyramid-shaped K2, which sits on the border between Pakistan and China, is considered by mountaineers to be by far the hardest of the 14 summits over 8,000 metres to scale.