APP
ISLAMABAD :An outfit of high-altitude porters (HAPs) has successfully retrieved the body of climber Muhammad Hassan Shigri from the bottleneck of K2 at a staggering 8,200m and reached advance base camp. Shigri tragically lost his life at this perilous spot last year.
This marks the first-ever rescue mission of its kind on K2 from such an extreme altitude. The feat happens to fall on the very same day that K2 was first ever submitted 70 years ago. The team dug out the body from bottleneck out of snow on Monday (July 29) and reached advance base camp (ABC) at an incredible speed on Wednesday (July 31) at approximately 6:30pm.
Climber Naila Kiani, approached by Hassan’s family for assistance, leveraged her ongoing Mahreq clean-up project at K2 to undertake this humanitarian mission. Utilising the existing infrastructure kept the costs minimal, and the project was organised swiftly.
Previous attempts to fund such expeditions were too costly and did not receive approval. By conducting this mission on a not-for-profit basis, the team managed to reduce costs to one-third of the original estimates provided to the Gilgit-Baltistan government. However, the mission is yet to receive sponsorship to fund the humanitarian effort.
Key team members included climbers Dilawar Sadpara, Akbar Hussein Sadpara, Zakir Hussein Sadpara, Mohammed Murad Sadpara, Ali Mohammed Sadpa, Naila Kiani (Project Lead), Imran Ali (Logistics Manager), Wali Ullah Fallahi (DC Shigar).