Body of Missing Irish Mountaineer Recovered in Pakistan’s Siran Valley

Search teams recovered the body of Irish mountaineer Alexander from a gorge in the dense forests of Paracha Khatta, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Siran Valley. He disappeared while descending the 13,500-foot Musa Da Musalla peak in fog and heavy rain.

Alexander and British national Alun David Cooper Cledwyn had gone to the valley to climb the peak. Police said the pair, accompanied by a local guide, began descending together on Aug. 30 after reaching the summit. Alexander later moved ahead and became separated from the others.

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Forest officials and locals spotted the body in a gorge in the dense forest. It appeared that the foreign mountaineer, who had separated from his British friend about four days ago while descending from Musa Da Musalla peak, slipped amid dense fog and rainy weather.

The guide and Cledwyn realised at the base camp that Alexander had not arrived. The owner of a local resort then informed police. Forest officials and local residents later spotted the body in a gorge. A police official said it took four hours to bring it to the base camp, from where it was taken to a health facility for medico-legal procedures.

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The Hazara police are committed to the safety and protection of foreign visitors, and the search operation has been completed in highly difficult terrain and amid bad weather.

Nasir Mehmood Satti, the deputy inspector general who led the search, said the body appeared to have been found after Alexander slipped in fog and rainy weather. He cautioned that it was too early to determine the exact cause of death.

The four-day operation involved police, the Forest Department, Rescue 1122 officials, two groups of mountaineers trained for such missions and local community members familiar with the terrain. Police said the climbers had entered the area without obtaining a no-objection certificate from police or other relevant departments. Alexander’s family reached Islamabad, and police said they would assist with the legal formalities.

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It would be premature to say what exactly caused the death. We found the body in a gorge in a difficult and densely forested area; it appeared that the mountaineer had slipped because of fog and rain.