A large number of people gathered in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, to pay tribute to Pakistani mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who died during an expedition to summit world’s second highest peak, K2, in northern Pakistan.
A candle light vigil was held at Hasan Sadpara Chowk in remembrance of the celebrated mountaineer.
Who is Ali Sadpara?
Ali Sadpara and two others who went missing earlier this month while attempting to scale the world’s second-highest mountain have been officially declared dead.
He is the only Pakistani to have climbed eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, and he made the first ever winter ascent of the world’s ninth highest peak, Nanga Parbat.
On Friday 5 February, he went missing along with two others – Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr – while trying to climb K2, the world’s second highest peak at 8,611m (28,251 ft) and also reputedly the deadliest.
His son Sajid was also a member of the team and the idea was for the father-and-son duo to summit K2 without oxygen, a feat never done before in winter. But Sajid had to turn back from a spot called the Bottleneck – also known as the “death zone”, some 300 metres from the top – after he felt sick.
Afterwards, he helped military-led rescue teams scour the mountain for signs of his father and the other two men.
On Thursday, the search was officially called off – and all three climbers declared dead.
K2Winter2021 – Pakistan s Ali Sadpara, Iceland s John Snorri and Chile s Juan Pablo declared dead
