Irish mountaineer’s body found in Pakistan’s Siran Valley
The body of Irish mountaineer Alexander, who went missing while descending Musa da Musalla peak in the Siran Valley, has been found in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The body was discovered in a ravine amid dense forest in the Paracha Hatta area.
As Dawn reports, Musa da Musalla peak is 13,500 feet, or about 4,100 metres, high. Alexander went missing during the descent in dense fog and rain.
Search operation details
According to Deputy Inspector General of Police Nasir Mehmud Satti, the body was spotted by forestry department workers and local residents. The official, who led the operation, said that the mountaineer separated from his British companion, Alun David Cooper Cledwyn, about four days earlier during the descent.
The four-day operation involved police, forestry department workers, Rescue 1122, local residents and two groups of mountaineers trained for such operations. More than 250 police officers took part. Transporting the body to the base camp in Mandachuchi through difficult forested terrain took four hours.
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Cause of death has not been established
A police representative involved in the operation stressed that it was premature to name the exact cause of death. According to the preliminary assessment of law enforcement officers, the mountaineer may have slipped in fog and rain.
Police also said that Alexander and Cledwyn were accompanied by a local guide. All three began their descent on August 30 after successfully reaching the summit, but Alexander later separated from his companions. According to the guide’s preliminary statement, confirmed by Cledwyn, he was walking far ahead in fog and heavy rain. His absence was noticed only at the base camp.
According to police, the foreign mountaineers arrived in the Siran Valley on August 28 without obtaining a no-objection certificate from police and other relevant departments. The deceased’s family has already arrived in Islamabad, where police promised to facilitate the necessary legal procedures.
