Pakistan declares missing climbers on K2 mountain dead after two weeks

Climbers John Snorri from Iceland, Juan Pablo Mohr from Chile and Muhammad Ali Sadpara of Pakistan lost contact with base camp on February 5

Pakistan says the search for the bodies will continue at K2, which is known in mountaineering circles as ‘the savage mountain’

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Temperatures at K2 can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 10:30am, 19 Feb 2021Updated: 10:30am, 19 Feb 2021

Three climbers lost on Pakistan’s K2 are believed to have died on the mountain, an official said on Thursday, more than a week after the group went missing while trying to summit the world’s second highest peak.

Climbers John Snorri from Iceland, Juan Pablo Mohr from Chile and Muhammad Ali Sadpara of Pakistan lost contact with base camp on February 5, sparking a massive rescue effort that included military helicopters and planes.

“All the weather experts, climbers, and experts from the Pakistan army have reached the conclusion that a human being cannot live for that long in such harsh weather,” said Raja Nasir Ali Khan, a provincial minister for tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, where K2 is located. “That’s why we are announcing that they are no more.”

Sajid Ali Sadpara, son of Pakistani missing mountain climber Ali Sadpara. Photo: AP

Khan said the search for the bodies would continue.

“My family have lost a kind father and the Pakistan nation has lost a great, brave, and experienced mountaineer,” Sajid Ali Sadpara – son of Muhammad Ali Sadpara – told reporters after the announcement was made.

“Words will never suffice to express the pain that we now face,” relatives of the 34 year-old Mohr in Santiago said in a brief statement.