Norwegian Climber Says It Would Have Been Impossible to Carry Injured Pakistani Porter Down Snowy K2

BERLIN (AP) — A record-setting Norwegian mountaineer pushed again Sunday towards claims that she may have completed extra to avoid wasting the lifetime of a Pakistani porter who slipped off a slim path close to the height of the world’s most treacherous mountain and died there after a number of hours.

The circumstances of Mohammad Hassan’s July 27 demise on K2, the world’s second-highest peak, sparked ongoing controversy, with two climbers arguing that he may have been saved if all these on the mountain that day had aborted their climb and targeted on getting him down safely.

Harila instructed The Related Press on Sunday that “within the snowy situation we had up there that day, it wouldn’t be potential to hold him down.”

“I’m certain that if it was potential that we noticed an opportunity to hold him down from there, everybody would have tried that,” she mentioned by Zoom from Norway. “However it was unimaginable.”

The uproar had been sparked by drone footage exhibiting dozens of climbers pushing previous a gravely injured Hassan towards the summit. The trail to the height was crowded on July 27, described because the final day of the season for a potential ascent.

In Pakistan, native authorities within the Gilgit-Baltistan area, which has jurisdiction over K2, fashioned a five-member committee on Aug. 7 to research Hassan’s demise. The committee’s mandate famous that it’s essential to find out the details after “distressing studies circulating on varied social media platforms.”

Investigators will attempt to decide, amongst different issues, whether or not extra may have been completed to avoid wasting Hassan, mentioned Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the Sports activities and Tourism division of Gilgit-Baltistan. He instructed the AP on Sunday that investigators are to submit their findings on Aug. 22.

Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three, was employed by the Pakistan-based expedition firm Lela Peak and was assigned to a crew of Russian climbers, mentioned firm director Anwar Syed.

Requested if she felt the controversy had tainted her file, Harila mentioned “in fact,” however didn’t elaborate. She appeared distraught at instances in the course of the interview and mentioned she had obtained demise threats.

“We tried for hours to avoid wasting him and we had been on most likely essentially the most harmful space” of K2, she mentioned including that she and her teammates had been “taking a really, very massive danger.”

Harila mentioned Hassan slipped and fell off the slim path round 2:15 a.m. on July 27, dangling on a rope the wrong way up. On the time, Hassan had been second within the line of climbers. Harila mentioned she was eighth and her crew members had been in seventh and ninth place, respectively.

As they tried to drag Hassan onto the trail, an avalanche got here down close to the place her ahead fixing crew was. After 90 minutes of attending to Hassan, Harila and a teammate moved within the course of the summit to test on the fixing crew, whereas her cameraman, Gabriel, stayed behind with Hassan, she mentioned.

Gabriel shared his oxygen with Hassan, gave him heat water and tried to heat him. She mentioned Gabriel stayed with the porter for two.5 hours however began operating out of oxygen. Gabriel then moved towards the height to fulfill up with Harila’s sherpas who had further oxygen tanks. At the moment, there have been additionally others attending to Hassan, she mentioned.

When Gabriel arrived on the peak, Harila requested him how Hassan was doing. She mentioned Gabriel instructed her that he was “in very dangerous form.”

On the way in which again down, she noticed Hassan’s lifeless physique mendacity on the trail.

Harila rejected claims made by Austrian climber Wilhelm Steindl that extra would have been completed if a Westerner had been harm on the mountain. Steindl and German climber Philip Flaemig, who shot the drone footage, had deserted their K2 climb earlier that day due to dangerous climate.

“We did actually attempt to save him and we might have completed simply the identical if it was me or anybody else that was hanging the wrong way up there,” she mentioned. “We couldn’t have completed something extra.”

Harila mentioned Hassan did not appear to have correct gear or coaching as a high-altitude porter and that it appeared to have been his first ascent.

“It was a really tragic accident that occurred on K2 that day,” Harila mentioned. “And we really feel so sorry for Hassan himself and for his household, his spouse and his children and his mom.”

Hussain, the regional official, mentioned investigators would take a look at the porter’s gear and coaching. They may even overview climate circumstances on July 27, together with avalanches, and study the actions of the expedition firm that employed Hassan.

The investigators are questioning porters and Sherpa guides, he mentioned, although it was not clear if international climbers could be interviewed as properly. The crew has collected related paperwork from authorities departments and personal corporations concerned in K2 ascent. Hussain mentioned the investigators had been additionally visiting the K2 base camp and different related places.

Steindl instructed the AP on Saturday that he felt extra may have been completed to avoid wasting Hassan. “Everybody would have needed to flip again to deliver the injured particular person again all the way down to the valley.”

“I don’t wish to sort of immediately blame anyone,” Steindl mentioned. “I’m simply saying there was no rescue operation initiated and that’s actually very, very tragic as a result of that’s really essentially the most regular factor one would do in a state of affairs like that.”

In Hassan’s dwelling village of Tisar, buddies and neighbors visited the household, providing prayers of condolence.

A childhood good friend, Basharat Hussain, mentioned Hassan had been decided to supply alternatives for his youngsters that he by no means had, together with an training.

“I feel that is essentially the most dehumanizing occasion in my life,” he mentioned, including that he hopes “it is not going to occur sooner or later.”

Steindl visited Hassan’s household and arrange a crowd-funding marketing campaign. After 4 days, donations reached greater than 125,000 euros (simply over $137,000).

Related Press journalist Zarar Khan contributed to this story from Islamabad, Pakistan.

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