ISLAMABAD: Pakistani woman climber Asma Mushtaq died this week due to a medical emergency while descending from the 7,027-meter high Spantik mountain in the Karakorum mountain range, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said.
Mushtaq successfully summited Spantik in “good health,” the Alpine Club said in a statement on Thursday. However, during her descent at approximately 6,400 meters, she suffered a “serious high-altitude medical emergency,” it added.
“Despite the immediate and dedicated efforts of her mountain guides, who provided every possible assistance under extremely challenging conditions, she could not survive,” the Alpine Club said.
According to Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn, Mushtaq was a UK-based doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynaecology, who was originally from the eastern city of Lahore.
She had completed a successful winter ascent of the 4,076-meter Musa ka Musallah peak and was associated with expeditions to Rupal and Arandu, Dawn reported.
Mountaineering accidents are common in northern Pakistan, where climbers face hazards including avalanches, falling ice and rock, extreme altitude and rapidly changing weather.
In July, a ten-member team of international climbers were killed after they were caught in an avalanche at Pakistan’s Broad Peak mountain.
