A Pakistan Army Aviation helicopter has rescued two stranded mountaineers Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali Shimshali from Nanga Parbat and transported them to Gilgit, officials said on Thursday.
Kashif, 20, who hails from Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, became the youngest Pakistani in May 2021 to scale Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Earlier this month, he became the youngest person to summit Mount Kanchenjunga in Nepal, and on Tuesday, July 5, the youngest person to summit Nanga Parbat.
Shimshali, who hails from Shimshal of Hunza district of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan’s north, was also reported missing with Kashif on Tuesday after getting stuck in a blizzard, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
“On the direction of GB chief minister, both stranded climbers have been rescued by helicopters of army aviation,” deputy commissioner Diamer, Fiaz Ahmad, said. “Both mountaineers have been escorted to Gilgit.”
The duo were stranded between Camp-III and Camp-IV of Nanga Parbat, known as the “Killer Mountain” because of its dangerous conditions.
On Wednesday, army choppers could not complete a recuse operation due to bad weather and the climbers descended to Camp-I on foot.
In a video statement earlier this week, Kashif’s father had appealed to Pakistan’s army chief to launch a rescue operation to retrieve his son, saying Nepalese climbers were ready to launch an operation if they were provided helicopters.
