The Pakistan Army launched a rescue operation on Monday to save one missing and two injured Russian climbers from the towering Gasherbrum IV mountain in the country’s north, the Alpine Club and an adventure tourism company said, hoping the rescue operation will be completed successfully today.
A five-member team of Russian climbers comprising Sergei Nilov, Mikhail Mironov, Alexy Bautin, Sergei Mironov, and Evgeni Lablokov set out on a mission to Gasherbrum IV to retrieve the body of Dmitry Golovchenko, another Russian climber who went missing on the same mountain in 2023. However, Nilov went missing on Saturday while Mikhail Mironov and Sergei Mironov remained stranded on the mountain with serious injuries after the team encountered an avalanche on the mountain.
Bautin and Lablokov, the other two climbers, were safely airlifted by a Pakistan Army helicopter to Skardu on Saturday evening but harsh weather conditions did not allow authorities to launch a rescue operation for the remaining three mountaineers.
“The army helicopter left Skardu for Gasherbrum IV to rescue the Russian climbers,” Qamar Abbas Haldivi, the operations manager for Blue Sky Trek and Tours which had organized the Russian expedition, told an international media outlet over the phone.
“Four Pakistani high-altitude porters and one Russian climber are taking part in the rescue mission,” he said, adding that the Russian climber was one of the two who had been safely evacuated from Skardu on Saturday.
Haldivi said the injured climbers were in contact with the basecamp via a satellite phone.
“And the Russian rescuer knows the location of injured people,” Haldivi said. “So God willing, the injured people will be rescued today.”
Karrar Haidri, the general secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, confirmed that the search was underway for the Russian climbers. He said the army helicopter would drop the rescuers at the maximum height of the mountain from where they will climb toward the injured mountaineers.
“The injured climbers are still above 6000 meters,” Haidri said. “And they are also trying to descend but their legs and hands are fractured, so they could not move down further.”
He said the five-member rescue team will try to bring the injured climbers down to a location where the helicopter would be able to rescue them easily. “Prayers are needed as the area is callous for rescue,” Haidri said. “The rescuers have been equipped with all kinds of logistics for the mission.”
Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan is a sparsely populated region home to some of the highest peaks in the world and a major tourist destination. Hundreds of tourists visit the region each year for expeditions on various peaks, paragliding and other sports activities. However, such expeditions frequently turn into tragic events. Last week, Pakistani mountaineer Murad Sadpara succumbed to head injuries whilst descending the Broad Peak Mountain in the region.
This summer, five Japanese climbers and a Brazilian paraglider also lost their lives in Pakistan’s Karakoram mountain range in separate incidents.
