The bodies of three mountaineers including Pakistan's climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara were found on K2, the world's second-highest peak, over five months after they went missing.
"The bodies of 3 lost mountaineers have been found below the Bottleneck on K2. The bodies have been recognised by a rope fixing team," Alpine Club of Pakistan said in a statement on Monday, The Express Tribune reported.
Apart from Muhammad Ali Sadpara, the bodies of Iceland's John Snorri and Chile's Juan Pablo Mohr were also found on K2.
Dawn reported quoting Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary Karrar Haideri, that it was "very difficult" to bring the bodies down from the mountain because of the high altitude, adding that the Army Aviation was helping in this regard.
It further said that Snorri's body would be shifted to Iceland at the request of his wife, Lina. Mohr's sister and mother had also decided previously that his body would be brought back to Chile.
Speaking to Dawn.com, Mushtaq Mett, the base camp manager of Mashabrum Expeditions, Treks and Tours Pakistan and the Madison Mountaineering K2 Expedition 2021, said that around 11 am today (Monday), the METT Nepalese Sherpa rope-fixing team found the first body 400 metres above Camp 4 which was Mohr's.
"The team found the second body when they were 300 meter away from the Bottleneck. They were able to identify it as Sadpara's. Another 100 meter away, they found Snorri's body."
He further said that Ali Sadpara's son, Sajid Sadpara, is currently at Camp 4 and will be guided by the rope-fixing team to his father's body tomorrow morning.
Sajid had earlier launched an expedition to retrieve the bodies of the three climbers. He was accomped by Canadian filmmaker Elia Saikaly and Pasang Kaji Sherpa.
Ali Sadpara had gone missing along with his two climbing partners -- Snorri and Mohr -- while attempting to climb K2, the world's second-highest peak at 8,611 metres.
They were last seen on February 5 near the bottleneck on K2 as they attempted to reach the summit of the Savage Mountain. Sajid Sadpara, who was accompanying the three, had to abandon his summit bid after his oxygen regulator malfunctioned and he returned to camp 3.
After days of search efforts that included the use of Pakistan Army helicopters, satellite imagery and SAR technology, the three climbers were officially declared dead on February 18.
Until 2021, K2 was the only peak above 8,000 metres that had never been summited in winter and was on the radar of many mountaineers, Dawn further reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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