Naila Kiani-led porters recover Shigri’s body from K2 Bottleneck

KARACHI: In a landmark achievement, a team of high-altitude porters (HAPs), managed by top female mountaineer Naila Kiani, successfully retrieved the body of Muhammad Hassan Shigri from the Bottleneck of K2 at an altitude of 8,200 meters and brought it back to the advance base camp, marking the first-ever rescue mission of its kind on the world’s second-highest peak

Hassan’s family approached Kiani for assistance, prompting her to organise the mission using existing infrastructure to keep costs minimal. Despite the tight timeline —requesting the NOC only a week before the summit push — the team capitalised on a favorable weather window for this urgent mission.

Hassan breathed his last on K2 last year due to extreme weather conditions. It was later reported that the porter did not have enough gears to protect him neither he had training enough to climb at this height. Following the incidents, there were videos on social media showing climbers passing-by the struggling and then dead Hassan Sadpara. The incident sparked discussions around the need for better training, leadership, and ethical standards in mountaineering.