A record-setting Norwegian mountaineer pushed back Sunday against claims that she could have done more to save the life of a Pakistani porter who slipped off a narrow trail near the peak of the world鈥檚 most treacherous mountain and died there after several hours.
The circumstances of Mohammad Hassan鈥檚 July 27 death on K2, the world鈥檚 second-highest peak, sparked ongoing controversy, with two climbers arguing that he could have been saved if all those on the mountain that day had aborted their climb and focused on getting him down safely.
The fallout from Hassan鈥檚 death overshadowed a record established by Norwegian climber and her Sherpa guide, Tenjin. By climbing K2 that day, they became the world鈥檚 fastest climbers,
Harila told The Associated Press on Sunday that 鈥渋n the snowy condition we had up there that day, it wouldn鈥檛 be possible to carry him down.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 sure that if it was possible that we saw a chance to carry him down from there, everyone would have tried that,鈥� she said by Zoom from Norway. 鈥淏ut it was impossible.鈥�
The uproar had been sparked by drone footage showing dozens of climbers pushing past a gravely injured Hassan toward the summit. The path to the peak was crowded on July 27, described as the last day of the season for a possible ascent.
In Pakistan, local authorities in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which has jurisdiction over K2, formed a five-member committee on Aug. 7 to investigate Hassan鈥檚 death. The committee鈥檚 mandate noted that it鈥檚 crucial to determine the facts after 鈥渄istressing reports circulating on various social media platforms.鈥�
Investigators will try to determine, among other things, whether more could have been done to save Hassan, said Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the Sports and Tourism department of Gilgit-Baltistan. He told the AP on Sunday that investigators are to submit their findings on Aug. 22.
Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three, was hired by the Pakistan-based expedition company Lela Peak and was assigned to a team of Russian climbers, said company director Anwar Syed.
Asked if she felt the controversy had tainted her record, Harila said 鈥渙f course,鈥� but did not elaborate. She appeared distraught at times during the interview and said she had received death threats.
鈥淲e tried for hours to save him and we were on probably the most dangerous area鈥� of K2, she said adding that she and her teammates were 鈥渢aking a very, very big risk.鈥�
Harila said Hassan slipped and fell off the narrow path around 2:15 a.m. on July 27, dangling on a rope upside down. At the time, Hassan had been second in the line of climbers. Harila said she was eighth and her team members were in 7th and 9th place, respectively.
As they tried to pull Hassan onto the path, an avalanche came down near where her forward fixing team was. After 90 minutes of attending to Hassan, Harila and a teammate moved in the direction of the summit to check on the fixing team, while her cameraman, Gabriel, stayed behind with Hassan, she said.
Gabriel shared his oxygen with Hassan, gave him warm water and tried to warm him. She said Gabriel stayed with the porter for 2.5 hours but started running out of oxygen. Gabriel then moved toward the peak to meet up with Harila鈥檚 sherpas who had extra oxygen tanks. At that time, there were also others attending to Hassan, she said.
When Gabriel arrived at the peak, Harila asked him how Hassan was doing. She said Gabriel told her that he was 鈥渋n very bad shape.鈥�
On the way back down, she saw Hassan鈥檚 dead body lying on the path.
Harila rejected claims made by Austrian climber Wilhelm Steindl that more would have been done if a Westerner had been hurt on the mountain. Steindl and German climber Philip Flaemig, who shot the drone footage, had abandoned their K2 climb earlier that day because of bad weather.
鈥淲e did really try to save him and we would have done just the same if it was me or anyone else that was hanging upside down there,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 have done anything more.鈥�
Harila said Hassan didn鈥檛 seem to have proper gear or training as a high-altitude porter and that it appeared to have been his first ascent.
鈥淚t was a very tragic accident that happened on K2 that day,鈥� Harila said. 鈥淎nd we feel so sorry for Hassan himself and for his family, his wife and his kids and his mother.鈥�
Hussain, the regional official, said investigators would look at the porter鈥檚 gear and training. They will also review weather conditions on July 27, including avalanches, and examine the actions of the expedition company that employed Hassan.
The investigators are questioning porters and Sherpa guides, he said, though it was not clear if foreign climbers would be interviewed as well. The team has collected relevant documents from government departments and private companies involved in K2 ascent. Hussain said the investigators were also visiting the K2 base camp and other relevant locations.
Steindl told the AP on Saturday that he felt more could have been done to save Hassan. 鈥淓veryone would have had to turn back to bring the injured person back down to the valley.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to kind of directly blame anybody,鈥� Steindl said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just saying there was no rescue operation initiated and that鈥檚 really very, very tragic because that鈥檚 actually the most normal thing one would do in a situation like that.鈥�
In Hassan鈥檚 home village of Tisar, friends and neighbors visited the family, offering prayers of condolence.
A childhood friend, Basharat Hussain, said Hassan had been determined to provide opportunities for his children that he never had, including an education.
鈥淚 think this is the most dehumanizing event in my life,鈥� he said, adding that he hopes 鈥渋t will not happen in the future.鈥�
Steindl visited Hassan鈥檚 family and set up a crowd-funding campaign. After four days, donations reached more than 125,000 euros (just over $137,000).
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