Climber Murad Sadpara succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning, a day after the Pakistan Army launched an operation to rescue him from Gilgit-Baltistan’s Broad Peak.

Tough terrains and harsh weather conditions in the Karakoram Range — where Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain at 8,051 metres, and the K2 (8,611 metres) are located — often result in climbers losing their lives.

Last month, two Japanese climbers were feared dead after they went missing during their attempt to scale K2. Another climber had died after falling into a crevice while descending GB’s Golden Peak.

Sadpara was working as a guide for a Portuguese female climber during her summit of Broad Peak when he slipped at an altitude of around 5,000m on Sunday.

Mountaineer Naila Kiani then sought the army’s help to rescue him. She had told Dawn that the Portuguese climber had hired the services of Sadpara and a Nepali sherpa for her summit. The team was returning from the summit when Sadpara fell near Camp 1 during bad weather conditions.

Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), said in a statement today that Sadpara died while descending from Broad Peak.

Haidri said Sadpara was “severely injured during his descent when a loose rock struck him on the head at Camp One”. He added that “rescue efforts were hampered by the harsh conditions on the mountain, leading to a delay”.

“Despite efforts to save him, the difficult environment and logistical challenges made a quick rescue impossible,” the APC official said.

Recalling the details of Sadpara’s current expedition with the Portuguese climber, Haidri said their “ascent was cut short when the Portuguese climber fell ill, forcing them to turn back”.

According to the APC secretary, Sadpara’s body has been “moved to the Japanese camp, where it will remain until it can be transferred to the base camp”. “It is expected to arrive at the base camp by 2pm today, after which it will be transported to Skardu via an army helicopter,” he added.

“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,” Haidri said. He added that the 35-year-old climber “leaves behind three daughters, a son and a lasting legacy of courage and selflessness”.

Sadpara had been involved in the notable mission earlier this month to retrieve the body of Hassan Shigri, a porter who had died on K2 last year.

Meanwhile, mountaineer Naila Kiani told Dawn.com that Sadpara’s body was found at 6am today.

According to Kiani, Sadpara’s team had “turned around without summiting as conditions near the summit were not good”.

“Murad was hired only to go to Camp Three so he waited there. They were all descending to base camp and Murad got hit on his head by a rock,” she said.

Kiani, however, termed the weather “good” at the time of the incident. Noting that Sadpara had a rope tied to him and was wearing a helmet, she said the team suspected that the rock that hit him “must have been big and caused internal bleeding”.

In an earlier statement, the ACP had said six local rescuers and mountaineers were involved in the rescue mission that was being carried out by the Pakistan Army. Four climbers belonged to Skardu’s Sadpara village while two hailed from Shagar, the ACP added.

“This morning, the Pakistan Army helicopters dropped Ashraf Sadpara and Zakir at Broad Peak base camp,” the ACP said.

According to a post by PTV News on X, Sadpara got “severely injured after being hit by a rock on his head at Camp 1” and later succumbed to his injuries.

It highlighted that the climber had also been leading the K2 Clean-up Expedition this year and had so far submitted four peaks, including K2.

Condolences

As soon as the report of Sadpara passing away emerged, condolences poured in from various leaders.

President Asif Ali Zardari, in a statement, expressed his grief and conveyed his sympathies to Sadpara’s family.

He hailed the climber’s efforts in the field of mountain climbing and prayed for the deceased.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended his condolences to the deceased’s family.

GB Chief Minister Gulbar Khan also extended his condolences, calling Sadpara a “brave adventurist”.

He said Sadpara’s services for mountain climbing would always be remembered.

In a post on Facebook, Kiani said she was “heartbroken”.

“The climber who rescued many others and brought down Hassan Shigri’s body from K2 bottleneck is lost too soon,” she wrote.

“Special thanks to selfless climbers Dilawar Sadpara, Akber Hussein, Zakir and Ashraf Sadpara for volunteering to bring [Murad’s body] down. Also many thanks to Anwar Syed for sending Manzoor and Basharat Hussein from his Broadpeak team for help,” she said.

The climber also extended a “special thank you to the army for their efforts in transporting four climbers to Broad Peak”.

Kiani then went on to point out that “valuable time was lost over the past two days due to administrative delays”.

She called for revising standard operating procedures (SOPs) for “handling such incidents to avoid future delays” and for a no-objection certificate to be granted for a private helicopter service or the Askar Aviation to purchase private helicopters.

“This would allow us to have our own helicopters and establish flexible SOPs, reducing our reliance on military resources,” Kiani stressed.