Pakistani climber Asma Mushtaq's body recovered on GB's Spantik Peak nearly 10 days after her death

Pakistani climber Asma Mushtaq's body recovered on GB's Spantik Peak almost 10 days after her death.

Key points

• Jamil Nagri Published August 31, 2026 Updated August 31, 2026 04: 34pm.
• Earlier recovery missions were carried out by a six-member team, and the new team comprised Mehboob, Hussain Ali, Mazahir Hussain, Mehboob Ali, Muhammad Abidin and Abbas Ali.
• The 34-year-old climber died on Aug 20 while descending from the mountain after suffering from high-altitude sickness.
• According to Experts have additionally, bringing a body down from a high-altitude peak, particularly from above 6, 000m, is an extremely risky and challenging task.
• Shigri had informed Dawn the day that Mushtaq died that she was part of a five-member Pakistani women's expedition team that summited Spantik.

Jamil Nagri Published August 31, 2026 Updated August 31, 2026 04: 34pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

GILGIT: A ground team recovered the body of deceased Pakistani climber Asma Mushtaq from Gilgit-Baltistan's Spantik Peak on Monday, almost 10 days after her death on the 7, 027-metre-tall mountain.

For context, the 34-year-old climber died on Aug 20 while descending from the mountain after suffering from high-altitude sickness.

Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary General Ayaz Shigri informed Dawn that a five-member team, comprising high-altitude mountaineers from Shigar, had initiated a new recovery mission on Friday after earlier attempts remained unsuccessful due to heavy snowfall.

Earlier recovery missions were carried out by a six-member team, and the new team comprised Mehboob, Hussain Ali, Mazahir Hussain, Mehboob Ali, Muhammad Abidin and Abbas Ali. This person led the operation, Shigri remarked. These volunteers were from Arundu in Shigar and carried out the operation as a self-funded mission, he continued.

Meanwhile, the rescue team began the operation at 3am today and discovered the body after around eight hours of searching, at around 11am.

Meanwhile, the team recovered the body near Camp 3 of the peak. It is located at a height of approximately 6, 250 metres, Shigri remarked. He continued that the body would be brought back to Camp 2 today and Pakistan Army helicopters were anticipated to airlift Mushtaq's body to Skardu after its arrival at the base camp afterwards.

Shigri had informed Dawn the day that Mushtaq died that she was part of a five-member Pakistani women's expedition team that summited Spantik. It included climbers Zoni Aslam, Zaba Shigri, Shama and Sohana.

In practice, the mountaineer had successfully reached the 7, 027m summit of Spantik and was in good health at the time, the ACP remarked in statements issued on Thursday. Nevertheless, she developed a serious high-altitude medical emergency at an elevation of concerning 6, 400m during her descent.

High-altitude sickness encompasses a range of pulmonary and cerebral conditions caused by hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, due to rapid ascent and inadequate acclimatisation to high altitudes.

Climate change-induced shifts in weather patterns have worsened conditions on the peaks of the Karakoram Range in GB, creating serious difficulties for mountaineers.

In plenty of cases, bodies at such extreme altitudes are left and buried under the snow rather than being brought down. Sajid Sadpara buried the body of his father, renowned Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara, at around 8, 000m on K2 in 2021.

Jamil Nagri is a Gilgit-Baltistan-based correspondent for Dawn with over a decade of experience in journalism. His reporting and feature writing focus on CPEC, climate change, the environment, and adventure tourism. He can be discovered on X at @jamilnagri.

Taken together, the developments around pakistani climber Asma Mushtaq' s body recovered on GB' s Spantik Peak nearly 10 point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.