Pakistani mountaineer Asif Bhatti, who was stranded at 8,126-metre-tall Nanga Parbat – the ninth highest peak in the world – for the last couple of days has reached the base camp and will be flown to Skardu on a helicopter with the help of Pakistan Army on Friday (today), Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary Karrar Haidri has said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed Gilgit-Baltistan and army authorities to “immediately rescue” Bhatti. The directives came after the climber’s son appealed to the premier on social media for safe evacuation of his stranded father.
Read more: Pakistani climber Asif Bhatti stranded at Nanga Parbat due to snow blindness
Haidri maintained that after the administration of first aid, the mountaineer will be taken to CMH Skardu on Friday.
Nanga Parbat is considered one of the world’s most perilous climbs with a reported one-in-five fatality rate. The mountain has earned the nickname "killer mountain" after more than 30 people died trying to climb it before the first successful summit in 1953.
On Monday, Polish climber Pawel Tomasz Kopec died from "acute altitude sickness" while descending from the killer mountain. His body remained at an altitude of 7,400 metres.
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