August 12th 2023.
Wilhelm Steindl, an Austrian climber, is claiming that Mohammed Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three, might have survived his fatal fall on K2, the world's most treacherous mountain, had more people stopped to help. Steindl and German Philip Flaemig had attempted to reach the summit earlier that day but aborted the climb due to bad weather. After reviewing the drone footage of their climb, they noticed that dozens of climbers had passed by Hassan instead of trying to help him.
Steindl commented on the situation saying: “We know by now that this was his friend, also a Pakistani high altitude porter. And what you also see in the drone footage is a line of 70 climbers marching towards the summit. There is a double standard here. If I or any other Westerner had been lying there, everything would have been done to save them. Everyone would have had to turn back to bring the injured person back down to the valley.”
The allegations have been met with hostility towards Norwegian mountain climber Kristin Harila and her Sherpa guide Tenjin who set a record for scaling the world’s 14 highest peaks in 92 days. Harila defended her actions by explaining that members of her team did pull Hassan back onto the trail after he was found dangling from a rope with his head facing down. She and another member of her team then decided to continue to the summit while a third remained with the injured man to provide him with warm water and oxygen from their mask.
Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Pakistan Alpine Club, has confirmed that an investigation has been launched into Hassan’s death. Steindl has since visited Hassan’s family, setting up a crowd-funding campaign that has raised over 114,000 euros. He expressed his shock at the suffering of the family, saying: “The widow told me that her husband did all this so that his children would have a chance in life, so that they could go to school.”
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