Army helicopters continue search mission for missing K2 climbers

(Karachi) The Pakistan Army has launched another search operation on Sunday to rescue globally renowned mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara and two foreign climbers who went missing after attempting the winter K2 summit, local media reported.

Sadpara was on the mission to hoist the national flag on the world’s second-highest mountain, the K2.

As per details, two army helicopters with local mountaineers and porters have departed from Skardu on the rescue mission. They will go up to 7,000 meters to find the climbers.

Expedition Manager Chhang Dawa Sherpa said, “It’s already been more than 30 hours, we (at basecamp) have received no news of John Snorri, Ali Sadpara, and Juan Pablo Mohr, since none of the GPS trackers seem to be working.”

Sadpur and two other mountaineers, John Snorri from Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr from Chile, had gone missing on Saturday after which a search operation to retrieve them was launched.

Soon army helicopters were dispatched to locate the missing mountaineers but were unable to find any clue to their whereabouts.

Two days ago, Sadpara and his team had successfully summited the 8,611-metre K2 — the world's second highest mountain, a month after their first attempt failed. However, their support teams have since then cautioned that the climbers' status is still unclear and there has been no communication from their end.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi telephoned his Iceland counterpart Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson and discussed the issue of three missing climbers, including Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri.

He apprised the Iceland foreign minister about the specific steps taken by the Pakistani authorities to search and rescue the missing mountaineers. He assured that Pakistan will spare no effort and will extend all possible support in this regard.