Fresh snowfall hampers search for three men. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Islamabad-based climbers, Usman, Imran and Khurram aged between 30 and 35 years, had gone missing while trying to scale the 20,000-foot-high mountain in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Neelum Valley Deputy Commissioner Hameed Kiyani told The Express Tribune that two rescue teams on army helicopters completed surface search but found no clues. Five teams are out to find the missing climbers. The mountains have received up to two feet of fresh snow hampering rescue efforts. “Our sympathies are with the families of the missing men,” he added.
On September 11, police had sent another three-member team, headed by an Alpine Club member, to search for the missing climbers but they returned on Tuesday.
Speaking on phone from Athmuqam, the headquarters of Neelum Valley district, Kiyani said two new specialist teams from Skardu with experience in climbing steep and deep gorges in snow-covered areas also confirmed there were no signs of life in the area.
Kiyani said the rescue operation had not been called off as all teams, backed by the Pakistan Army, were still at the base camp to locate the mountaineers despite the passage of 16 days.
Pakistan Army’s Kel Brigade has provided choppers for surface searches of Sirwali Peak.
The missing climbers and their facilitator club had reportedly violated and bypassed all standard operating procedures issued after the 2013 Nanga Parbat massacre while entering AJK to scale Sirwali Peak.
The five-member expedition from Islamabad ventured out on August 26 from Kel to the Domail Bala base camp to summit the peak. Soon, the three men lost contact with the two climbers while ascending the peak, police said while quoting the two survivors.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2015.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ