Allegations surrounding the events on July 27 at K2, the world’s second highest peak, have eclipsed the record held by Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Sherpa guide Tenjin. That day, upon reaching the summit of K2, they achieved the world record as the mountaineers who climbed the 14 highest mountains in the world in the shortest time, in 92 days.
Harila denied any responsibility for the death of carrier Mohammed Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three, who slipped and fell from a narrow path in an especially dangerous section of K2 called the bottleneck. On Friday, she Harila wrote in an Instagram post that she was “angry at how many people are blaming others for this tragic death” that is no one’s fault.
Two other climbers who were on K2 that day, Wilhelm Steindl of Austria and Philip Flaemig of Germany, called off their climb due to bad weather but said they were able to later reconstruct the events by studying drone footage.
In the videos, dozens of climbers walk past a badly injured Hassan instead of coming to his aid, Steindl told The Associated Press on Saturday. He maintained that Harila and his team, among other climbers, could have saved him had he abandoned attempts to reach the top.
“There is a double standard here. If the man lying there was me or any other Westerner, he would have done everything he could to save him,” Steindl said. “Everyone should have returned to take the wounded man to the valley.”
Harila told Sky News that Hassan was hanging from a rope, upside down, after his fall from the bottleneck, “probably the most dangerous stretch of K2.” He indicated that after an hour his team was able to lift him onto the trail.
At one point, she and another team member decided to continue to the summit while another member stayed with Hassan to give him warm water and oxygen from his own mask, according to the climber.
Harila stated that he decided to continue the climb because his vanguard team also had difficulties, which he did not describe in the interview.
When asked about Hassan’s equipment, Harila said he was not wearing proper clothing and had no gloves or oxygen.
Meanwhile, authorities have launched an investigation into Hassan’s death, said Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Pakistan Alpine Club, a sports organization that also serves as the governing body for mountaineering in Pakistan. The investigation is being carried out by the authorities of the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which has jurisdiction over K2, Haidri said.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
