ISLAMABAD: A rescue team has reached the location where the body of Pakistani mountaineer and travel vlogger Dr Asma Mushtaq is suspected to be, but heavy snowfall is hampering efforts to locate her remains, Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar said Wednesday.
In an update on X, Tarar said the rescue team had reached the suspected location of the Pakistani climber’s body.
However, he said the area was “very large” and heavy snowfall over the past two days had completely covered the body, making it difficult to locate.
“The rescue team has been searching for the past two hours, but the body has not yet been found. Operation continues,” Tarar said.
Mushtaq, a doctor based in the UK, died last week while descending from the 7,027-meter summit of Spantik in Gilgit-Baltistan. The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said she had reached the summit in good health but suffered a serious high-altitude medical emergency at around 6,400 meters during her descent.
Her mountain guides immediately provided assistance and attempted to save her, but she could not survive, the club said.
Mushtaq had previously undertaken several expeditions, including a successful winter ascent of the 4,076-meter Musa Ka Musalla peak, as well as expeditions in the Rupal and Arundu regions.
Spantik, also known as Golden Peak, is one of Pakistan’s prominent high-altitude mountaineering destinations in the Karakoram range.
Earlier, ACP Senior Vice President Karrar Haidri and members of the club expressed grief over Mushtaq’s death and extended condolences to her family, friends and the wider mountaineering community.