Bodies of Sadpara, other climbers found at K2: GB minister

SKARDU: Bodies of Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr have been found, confirmed Gilgit Baltistan Information Minister Fateh Ullah Khan to Geo News on Monday.

Sajid Sadpara, along with Canadian filmmaker Elia Saikaly and Pasang Kaji Sherpa, is summiting the K2 to find the bodies of his father and his companions Snorri, and Mohr. The mountaineers had gone missing on February 5 and were declared dead a few days later after their bodies were not found and the rescue mission was called off.

The team had reached Camp 4 this morning and flew a drone around the area in search of the bodies, sources said. Through the drone, the team was able to detect a body above Camp 4 near the bottleneck.

A message from Saikaly said that Sajid Sadpara has buried Juan Pablo and that his father's body is located above the bottleneck. "Sajid just buried Juan Pablo. His father Ali is just above the bottleneck. We will go up again tonight," said the Canadian filmmaker at 6:59pm.

A minute later, Saikaly sent an SOS message for more oxygen as the team was running low on it. "If anyone can help us get more oxygen, anyone from Pakistan with influence, people at Base Camp leaving, we could use your help. Running low," said the Canadian. He added that the team is currently at Camp 4.

Earlier, the GB information minister told Geo News that the team had located the first body at close to 9am this morning near the bottleneck area of the mountain. “First, the body of John Snorri was located at 9am below the bottleneck. He was wearing yellow and black coloured clothes,” said Khan. He added that the second body was located at 12pm but they have not been able to identify the other two bodies.

The minister said that Snorri’s body was identified as the army’s focal person and had confirmed the colours of his clothes. Khan said that the army helicopters are on standby for the rescue mission and that the digging process to recover the bodies is underway right now. He added that the army and the government are on alert.

Apart from Sajid, Sherpa and Saikaly, the team also includes Fazal Ali and Aziz Baig. The last Instagram update made by Saikaly two days back saying that they had begun their "final search and summit attempt".