Pakistani mountaineer dies while descending from 8,047-meter Broad Peak

(MENAFN) A Pakistani mountaineer tragically lost his life while descending from the 8,047-meter (26,400 feet) Broad Peak, marking the sixth mountaineering fatality in Pakistan this year, according to an official statement to Anadolu on Monday. The climber, Murad Sadpara, sustained severe injuries after being struck on the head by a loose rock during his descent, a few days before his death, as reported by Karrar Haidri, the secretary-general of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the country's official mountaineering organization.

Haidri noted that despite the critical nature of Sadpara's injuries, rescue operations were significantly delayed due to the challenging conditions on the mountain. The harsh weather and difficult terrain hindered efforts to provide timely assistance, ultimately leading to Sadpara's untimely death.

Sadpara had been part of a successful mission to recover the body of Hasan Shagri, a high-altitude porter who had fallen while attempting to climb the 8,611-meter (28,251-foot) K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, during an expedition last year. Shagri's body was finally retrieved from Broad Peak in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) region, which is known for housing five of the world's 14 highest peaks, just last week by the rescue team that included Sadpara.

Sadpara was well-known in the mountaineering community, having gained recognition last year for successfully retrieving the body of an Afghan mountaineer from K2. His death comes only days after two Japanese climbers, who fell from K2, were officially declared dead. Earlier in June and July, three other Japanese climbers lost their lives while attempting to scale the 7,027-meter (23,054 feet) Spantik Peak, also known as Golden Peak, in an alpine-style expedition. These incidents highlight the dangers and the high toll that mountaineering can exact in Pakistan's treacherous mountain ranges.

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