Pakistan climber who helped in daring rescue dies on mountain
International Desk
A Pakistani mountain climber who helped retrieve a dead body in a daring rescue mission earlier this month died during an expedition, the country's climbing association, said Monday.
Murad Sadpara was struck on the head by a rock at the weekend as he descended Broad Peak mountain, the 12th highest in the world at 8,051 metres (26,414 feet), while supporting an expedition with a Portuguese climber.
"His death is a sobering reminder of the extreme risks involved in high-altitude climbing, where the line between life and death is often perilously thin," Karrar Haidri, the head of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, told AFP.
A rescue team confirmed his death on Monday, after efforts to reach him over the weekend were hampered by poor weather and logistical challenges.
Sadpara, who was in his early 30s, hailed from a mountain village renowned for its highly skilled porters who regularly support record-breaking expeditions.
A little more than a week before his death, Sadpara and four other teammates successfully retrieved the body of Muhammad Hassan Shigri from the extreme altitude of 8,200 metres on K2 in a mission the Alpine Club described as the first of its kind on the world's second-highest mountain.
A year earlier, Sadpara was part of a team that retrieved the body of an Afghan climber from the mountain's Camp 3, the first time a body was brought back from K2.
Five foreign climbers have fallen to their deaths in separate incidents on Pakistan mountains this summer climbing season.
