Gilgit-Baltistan Information Minister Fatehullah Khan on Monday said the bodies of world-famous mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara and two other foreign climbers had been spotted at the Base Camp of K2.
The body of another foreign climber was also seen by a telescope, he said while talking to a private television channel.
The minister said the army helicopters would approach the Base Camp to lift bodies.
Ali Muhammad Sadpara and two other climbers Iceland's John Snorri and Chile's Juan Pablo Mohr had gone missing on February 5 this year while trying to climb K2, the world's second-highest peak at 8,611m (28,251 feet).
The bodies of 3 lost mountaineers have been found below the Bottleneck on K2. The bodies have been recognized by a rope fixing team as Muhammad Ali Sadpara, JP Mohr and John Snorri, all three of whom went missing during #AliSadpara #JohnSnorri #JPMohr #K2Winter
— Alpine Adventure Guides (@Alpine_Pakistan) July 26, 2021
His son Sajid Ali Sadpara also confirmed the news of tracing the body of his father. Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary Karrar Haideri also confirmed the development.
Haideri said 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.
Bodies have found and the difficult task is to bring them back government of Pakistan is helping through army aviation. Hopefully tomorrow army heli will fly to bring the bodies down through sling operation. John Snorii body will be move to Iceland requested by Lina Pablo family.
— Alpine Adventure Guides (@Alpine_Pakistan) July 26, 2021
Haideri said 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, the ACP secretary said.
“Sherpas have found the dead bodies of John Snorri, JP Mohr, and Ali Sadpara just below Bottleneck of Mount K2 (8,611 metres). All three were missing since,” Everest Today, a mountain blog, wrote in a Twitter update.
The blog – which has over 44,000 followers on the popular microblogging site – broke the story hours earlier quoting sources at K2 Base Camp. However, it wasn’t sure about the identification of the bodies.
The body of legendary Pakistani mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara seems to have found just below bottleneck, according to the sources at Base Camp. #K22021
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) July 26, 2021
“The body of legendary Pakistani mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara seems to have been found just below Bottleneck” by Madison Mountaineering sherpas, it said in a Twitter post.
Alpine Adventure Guides also confirmed the development. “The dead body of [the] late legendary climber [and] national hero Muhammad Ali Sadpara [has been found] below 300 metres from Bottleneck. Rest in peace,” it wrote on the microblogging site.
#Breaking #news #K2
— Alpine Adventure Guides (@Alpine_Pakistan) July 26, 2021
The death body of late legendary climber national hero Muhammad ali Sadpra below 300m from botalneck.
Rest in peace 😥#k2 alisadpar #heroes #RIP #Mountain
It added that two more bodies were also spotted at “Camp 4 below 300 metres from Bottleneck”, which is known as the most treacherous trek of K2.
Muhammad Ali Sadpara, along with two colleagues – John Snorri Sigurjónsson from Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto from Chile – were declared dead on Feb 18, nearly two weeks after they went missing on the ‘Savage Mountain’.
The trio had lost contact with Base Camp on Feb 5 while attempting an unprecedented winter ascent without supplemental oxygen. K2, nicknamed the ‘Killer Mountain’, had never been scaled in winter until a Nepalese team accomplished the feat less than a month before the Sadpara expedition.
Sadpara’s son, Sajid, who was accompanying the three, had to withdraw after his oxygen regulator malfunctioned and he returned to Base Camp. He is confident the trio had scaled K2 and might have met an accident while descending.
In another tweet earlier in the day, Everest Today said, “Elia Saikaly, Sajid Sadpara among many others reached CIV on K2 (8,611m) today.” Using hashtag#K22021, he further wrote: “Multiple summits expected tomorrow.”
Elia Saikaly, Sajid Sadpara among many others reached CIV on K2 (8611 m) today. Multiple summits expected tomorrow. #K22021 pic.twitter.com/y51RJ8wO65
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) July 26, 2021
There is no official confirmation of the development thus far.
However, Sadpara’s son tweeted two days back that he was hopeful of finding a “trace and answers” to the tragedy that claimed the lives of three skilled climbers, including his father’s.
“We have started our climb again. Will resume search, both physical and by drones; above 8,000m and beyond Bottleneck. I am hopeful of finding a trace and answers,” he wrote on his Twitter handle using hashtags #Mission Sadpara #K2Search.
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