SWAT: The body of a local mountaineer, who had died after falling into a gorge while descending the Falak Sar, the highest peak in Swat, was recovered after a weeks-long search.
A rescue team, with helicopter support, reached the high-altitude site on Friday and retrieved the body of Mian Syed Ali Shah from the extremely difficult snow-covered terrain of Falak Sar.
Mr Shah, a resident of Khwazakhela, had successfully reached the nearly 6,000 metres summit of Falak Sar as part of a sixmember mountaineering expedition.
According to his fellow climbers, he slipped and fell into a steep gully while descending from the peak, sustaining serious injuries and later died amid extreme weather conditions.
His body could not initially be brought down because of the extremely steep, hazardous and glacier-covered terrain. For weeks, his body remained stranded at an altitude of around 5,200 metres.
The recovery effort gained fresh momentum when a team of young local volunteers used a drone to locate Shah’s body on a glacier. The discovery prompted his family, fel-low mountaineers and members of the local community to appeal to the district administration and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to arrange a helicopter-assisted recovery operation.
The appeals also attracted attention at the provincial and federal levels, with calls for authorities toensure that the deceased mountaineer’s body was safely returned to his home.
An initial attempt to reach the site by helicopter was unsuccessful due to bad weather and difficult flying conditions in the mountainous region.
However, improved weather on Friday allowed the rescue operation to resume.
Renowned local mountain guide Saddam Hussain and his team played a key role in the recovery effort. The team ventured into the highly dangerous, snowbound terrain and, with helicopter support, successfully retrieved Shah’s remains.
The operation was considered extremely challenging because of the high altitude, severe weather, steep slopes, gla-ciers and hazardous mountain routes. The rescuers demonstrated exceptional courage, determination and professional skill to complete the mission.
For many in Swat, Syed Ali Shah was more than a mountaineer or mountain guide. He was regarded as a symbol of courage, adventureand determination, having devoted himself to exploring the difficult and remote mountains of the valley.
‘People like Syed Ali Shah leave behind a message that is larger than life,’ residents and fellow mountaineers said, describing his journey as an inspiration for a new generation of young people in Swat.