MANSEHRA: The body of Irish mountaineer Alexander, who went missing while descending from the 13,500-foot-high Musa Da Musalla peak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Siran Valley amid rough weather, was recovered on Wednesday from the dense forests of the Paracha Khatta area.

On Monday, it was reported that the two mountaineers — Irish national Alexander, along with a British national, Alun David Cooper Cledwyn — went missing while descending the peak.

The police had maintained that the climbers went to Siran Valley on Friday to summit Musa Da Musalla without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the police or other relevant departments.

“Forest officials and locals spotted the body in a gorge in the dense forest. It appeared that the foreign mountaineer, who had separated from his British friend about four days ago while descending from Musa Da Musalla peak, slipped amid dense fog and rainy weather,” said Nasir Mehmood Satti, the deputy inspector general of police (DIG), who also led the search operation.

The search team, comprising police, Forest Department and Rescue 1122 officials, as well as members of the local community, recovered the body and shifted it to Mandachucha, where the police had established a base camp during the four-day operation.

DIG Satti said the family of the deceased foreign mountaineer had reached Islamabad and that his department would extend them full support and cooperation in completing the legal formalities.

“The Hazara police are committed to the safety and protection of foreign visitors, and the search operation has been completed in highly difficult terrain and amid bad weather,” he said.

A police official who took part in the operation said it took four hours to bring Alexander’s body to the base camp, from where it was transported to a health facility for medico-legal formalities.

“It would be premature to say what exactly caused the death. We found the body in a gorge in a difficult and densely forested area; it appeared that the mountaineer had slipped because of fog and rain,” he added.

Police sources also confirmed to the media for the first time that a local guide had been accompanying Alexander and Cledwyn.

He added that all three had started descending together on August 30 after successfully summiting the peak, but Alexander later separated from them.

“According to the preliminary statement of the local guide, which Cledwyn also confirmed, the deceased foreigner was far ahead of them amid the fog and heavy rain. They realised at the base camp that Alexander had not arrived, and then the owner of a local resort informed us [the police],” he added.

The foreigners had gone to Siran Valley on August 28 to summit Musa Da Musalla peak without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the police and other relevant departments.

The search operation, involving more than 250 police personnel assisted by two groups of mountaineers trained for such operations, members of the indigenous community familiar with navigating Siran Valley, and Forest Department officials, continued for three days despite bad weather and dense fog.