The team searching for Asma Mushtaq‘s body on Spantik has reached the place where it is believed to lie — and cannot find it (Geo News).
“However, because the place is very large and due to heavy snowfall over the past two days, the body is now completely covered under the snow, making it difficult to locate,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in an update on X.
The team searched the area for two hours.
Where things stand
The operation remains active despite the conditions. Helicopter support remains authorised, with coordination between the Gilgit-Baltistan government and the Force Command Northern Areas.
The recovery had previously been suspended when heavy snowfall and strong winds forced the team back to Camp 2 while approaching Camp 3. It resumed on Tuesday after the weather improved.
The body lies at approximately 6,400 metres.
The difficulty
The obstacle has changed from weather to snow cover, which is harder.
A search at 6,400 metres is limited by how long anyone can work at that altitude — two hours is a substantial effort there — and fresh snow over a large area removes the visual references that make a location findable at all. Every further day of snowfall enlarges the search rather than narrowing it.
Who she was
Mushtaq, 34, died on August 20 after suffering a serious high-altitude medical emergency while descending the 7,027-metre peak in the Karakoram, having summited in good health.
She was from Lahore and worked in Britain as a doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. She was part of a five-member Pakistani women’s team.
