GILGIT: The body of 34-year-old female clim­ber, Dr Asma Mushtaq, was finally airlifted to Skardu and shifted to hospital from Spantik Peak base camp, as weather improved on Monday.

The cli­mber died on Aug 20, appa­rently from high-altitude sickness, during her descent after successfully climbing the 7,027-metre mountain.

Baltistan Division Com­m­issioner Kamal Khan said after fulfilling legal proceedings, the body would be dispatched to Lahore via PIA flight for her burial on Tuesday.

Ayaz Shigri, general secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said helicopters safely airlifted the body as bad weather prevented helicopters from flying earlier.

While she was in good health at the time of rea­ching summit, she developed a serious medical eme­rgency at an elevation of about 6,400m during her descent and later died from high-altitude sickness.

High-altitude sickness encompasses a range of pulmonary and cerebral con­ditions caused by hyp­oxia, or oxygen deprivation, due to rapid ascent and inadequate acclimatisation.

A ground team voluntarily recovered the body from Camp 3, at around 6,250m, bringing it to the base camp on Aug 31.

Local climbers say bringing a body down from above 6,000m is an extremely risky task. Sometimes bodies at such extreme altitudes are left buried under the snow.

After being airlifted from the base camp on Monday, the body was received by district administration, police officials and representatives of the local climbing community at the Skardu helipad. The body was later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in a health department ambulance.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2026