ISLAMABAD: The body of missing Pakistani climber Mohammad Ali Sadpara has been found below 300m from the bottleneck K2, ARY News reported on Monday.
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) information minister Fatehullah Khan told ARY News that the bodies of Mohammad Ali Sadpara and John Snorri were recovered.
‘Three bodies’ of the missing climbers were spotted from binoculars at 9:00 am today and it will take some days to bring the bodies to the base camp through Pakistan Army helicopters, he said. Khan added that Sadpara’s body was identified from the dress he wore during the winter summit.
Sources said that two bodies have recovered near K2 base camp 4 and they may belong to Mohammad Ali Sadpara and Iceland’s John Snorri. It was learnt that both bodies were found at a great distance from each other, whereas, the bodies are being identified.
Sadpara, a highly accomplished mountaineer from Skardu, went missing on the mighty K2 while attempting a winter summit with Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr in January. The team had been missing since February 5, even after multiple rescue efforts.
Pakistan Army held a rescue operation for the missing mountaineers for many days. Sadpara’s son declared his father dead after the conclusion of days-long search mission.
Mohammad Ali Sadpara holds the distinction of being the only Pakistani to have summited eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains. He is also credited with the first-ever winter ascent of the world’s ninth highest peak, Nanga Parbat.
Sajid Sadpara also accompanied his father during the ascend, however, he had to return to the base camp after being sent back from 8200 kilometers altitude owing to a malfunction in his oxygen regulator.
Sajid Sadpara had earlier claimed that his father and other climbers went missing on their return after they completed the summit.
In June, Sajid Sadpara had announced to once again summit K-2 to find remains of his father Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Iceland’s climber John Snorri, who went missing while attempting a winter summit.
Sajid Sadpara had made the announcement at a presser at National Press Club in Islamabad, saying that his father and John Snorri went for the K-2 summit in January.
“I wanted to thank all those people who helped in a mission to locate them,” he had said while applauding the Pakistan Army that launched one of the biggest rescue operations to find both the climbers.
He had said that it was now time for him to reach the summit and find if they had left any traces for him to locate their bodies. “It may be possible that they had returned before climbing the peak,” he said.
