Dubai: Pakistan Army saved lives of two injured British climbers including a renowned theoretic physicist Dr Bruce Normand in a daredevil rescue operation in bad weather conditions on Sunday.
“We sent out a rescue mission at 6.45am on Sunday morning after receiving reports that three climbers including two British and one Australian are trapped in an avalanche hit area,” a spokesperson of Pakistan army told Gulf News.
“Two injured British climbers were brought down alive while the body of the Australian climber was also airlifted,” he said,
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR)—media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, three mountaineers including two British and an Australian were climbing Ultar Sar peak near Hunza on June 30 when they were hit by an avalanche on South East pillar of Ultar peak.
Dr Bruce Normand and Miller Timothy, both British national, got injured while Australian climber Christian Huber died in the accident.
Due to bad weather conditions between Skardu to Hunza and at Ultar Sar peak, army helicopters which were on standby, could not take off for immediate rescue on the same day. Upon getting weather clearance and GPS Coordinates from mountaineers, the helicopters took off and completed the rescue mission successfully in difficult weather conditions.
The unprecedented high altitude landing at unprepared helipad, high temperature and challenging environment made this mission the first of its kind as it tested the professionalism and performance of both men and machine.
According to ISPR, Dr Bruce Normand is a renowned theoretic physicist based at Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.
Karrar Haidri, secretary of Alpine Club of Pakistan, said that an avalanche hit the climbers’ tent on Friday night during a strong storm at a height of 5,900 metres on Ultar Sar Peak in the Hunza Valley.
The three-member expedition started in late May and was permitted to go till the first week of July.
