Plans to retrieve Dahlmeier's body from Pakistan peak abandoned

Qatar Tribune

6 days ago

dpa
Islamabad
Rescuers in Pakistan abandonedplans to retrieve the body of twice Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier of Germany to respect her last wish and avoid risking more lives, fellow climber Thomas Huber told DPA on Thursday.
Dahlmeier, 31, was swept away in a rockfall close to the summit of the 6,069metres Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range on Monday, her management and local officials said.
She was declared dead on Wednesday evening after air and ground operations to rescue her from the peak in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region was not successful.
Pakistani officials said on Wednesday that rescue teams led by international climbers and local high-altitude porters would launch a new operation to retrieve her body.
'When we saw Laura's body it was clear that she (had) left us. As experienced mountain climbers we decided to not go and retrieve her body,' Huber, who's in the GBregion, told dpa over the phone.
'The body was in a very difficult terrain which would have meant a great risk for the rescue team,' said Huber, also a German who was part of the team that went up to rescue Dahlmeier.
'We decided to respect Laura's last wish. She didn't want anyone to risk his or her life to retrieve her.' The regional government in the GB will also respect the decision taken by the rescuers and the climber's family, a spokesman told DPA.
'We will go with the same decision and make no effort to retrieve the body since it involves risk to human life,' spokesman Faizullah Faraq said.
'She will be considered buried on the mountain like many local and international climbers in the past,' he added.
Dahlmeier's management said on Wednesday that it was her 'expressed and written wish that in a case like this, nobody should risk their life to rescue her. It was her wish to leave her body behind at the mountain in a case like this.'
Her family was on the way to Pakistan and was expected to arrive in the country on Thursday or Friday, said Karrar Haidri of Al-pine Club of Pakistan, a body that regulates expeditions in the mountains.
Dahlmeier's climbing partner Marina Eva was rescued and brought to the base camp by a group of climbers and local high-altitude porters on Tuesday, tour operator Mohamed Iqbal told DPA.
Pakistan's northern region is home to several stunning peaks including some towering more than 8,000 metres high. The region attracts hundreds of mountaineers from all over the world including from Europe every year.