Two days after two mountaineers went missing during an expedition to Nanga Parvat, the Pakistani military airlifted them to safety on Thursday, news agency AP reported. One of the two men is Shehroze Kashif, who last year became the youngest climber to scale Mount K2. Kashif and fellow climber Fazal Ali went missing Tuesday after scaling Nanga Parbat, the “Killer Mountain” known for its dangerous conditions, the report said.
A search was launched for the two after Kashif’s family placed a request. The climbers were found stranded on Nanga Parbat and were taken to Gilgit town, the army was quoted as saying in a statement.
The army had sent a ground search team, besides dispatching helicopters, it said.
Kashif’s family shared a photograph on Twitter later, showing the climbers sitting in an army helicopter.
First glimpses of many #survival stories to come from #NangaParbat 8126m. #ShehrozeKashif and #FazalAli at Gilgit airport. #TheBroadBoy #TheKarakoramClub@Karakoramclub @faizanlakhani pic.twitter.com/KqUE5TIsvB
— Shehroze Kashif (broadboy) (@Shehrozekashif2) July 8, 2022
According to the AP report, Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, had earlier said both climbers were spotted on Wednesday and were “descending on their own”, with bad weather hampering the rescue mission by the military.
Kashif’s father thanked army officials, as he confirmed that Kashif and Ali were safe.
“I have good news,” he was quoted as saying early Thursday. “My son and Fazal Ali today safely reached a place on Nanga Parbat from where now they can be air-lifted.” He said the army authorities had asked the two to wait for the helicopters to reach there.
Kashif had also scaled Mount Everest in 2021, the AP report said.