PM Shehbaz calls for immediate rescue of mountaineer Asif Bhatti

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ordered the Gilgit-Baltistan and Army authorities to rescue mountaineer Asif Bhatti who was reportedly trapped at about 7500 meters while scaling the 8,126-meter peak of Nanga Parbat, APP reported.

The directives came after the mountaineer’s son appealed to the prime minister on social media for the safe evacuation of his stranded father.

Shehbaz Sharif instructed the Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan to contact Asif Bhatti’s son and assure him of immediate measures for the stuck-up climber’s rescue.

Reportedly, Pakistani mountaineer Asif Bhatti, along with his climbing partner Fazal Ali, encountered problems scaling Nanga Parbat at the weekend.

Bhatti became snowblind and the pair were stranded at one of the peak’s higher camps, but resumed their descent on Tuesday, according to Karakorum Expeditions, who are assisting with his rescue.

The Karakoram Club, a travel organization in Pakistan, announced earlier in the day that a heli had arrived at the base camp of NangaParbat after refueling.

"Due to high winds, it's yet to be seen if it can take off for a rescue mission," it said, adding: "2 climbers of KE are already climbing up the mountain so they can help Asif Bhatti get back to the Basecamp who's already slowly descending towards lower camps."

"Fingers crossed. Prayers are requested for everyone's safety," it said.

The development came a day after a Polish mountaineer died after summiting the world’s ninth-highest peak, officials said, becoming the first casualty reported in Pakistan’s climbing season.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan said Pawel Tomasz Kopec died Monday from “acute altitude sickness” while descending from the 8,125-metre (26,656-foot) Nanga Parbat, considered one of the world’s most perilous climbs with a reported one-in-five fatality rate.

ive of the globe’s 14 mountains above 8,000 metres are in Pakistan – including Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat, which earned the nickname “killer mountain” after more than 30 people died trying to climb it before the first successful summit in 1953.