Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila denies group stepped over dying porter during world record K2 climb
A renowned Norwegian mountaineer has denied claims her team stepped over a dying helper while climbing K2 – one of the tallest peaks on the planet – as part of a world record bid.
Kristin Harila, 37, says she is the victim of “misinformation” and has had “hatred” aimed at her – including death threats.
Last month, she became the fastest climber to scale all the world’s 14 highest mountains – completing the achievement in just 92 days.
Her final climb was of K2 on 27 July, after which she arrived with fellow record-breaker, Nepali mountaineer Tenjen (Lama) Sherpa, in Kathmandu to a hero’s welcome.
But during the K2 climb, a local helper who was part of a team ahead of them, slipped a few metres from a narrow ledge, became tangled in ropes and later died on the mountain.
Video has emerged showing climbers appearing to step over the high porter, named as 27-year-old father-of-three Muhammad Hassan, from Pakistan.
A mountaineer attempts to help Muhammad Hassan. Pic: ServusTV
Two men, who were climbing K2 on the same day, have since criticised the group, and claimed Mr Hassan was treated like a “second-class human being” by other climbers.
However, Ms Harila told Sky News her team “tried for hours to save” Mr Hassan – and that one member even took off his oxygen mask and gave it to him because he did not have one of his own.
“We were just behind him when he fell,” she said.
“We saw him hanging upside down – very early on we decided we needed to try and turn him around.
Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila with Nepali mountaineer Tenjen (Lama) Sherpa
“Lama tried to turn him around, but he wasn’t able to because this is a very narrow and very steep place, and it is not safe to stay here.”
Ms Harila said it took around an hour to bring Mr Hassan back on to the trail, at what she described as a “dangerous bottleneck”, with ice and snow hanging over it.
She said the group also decided to split, with her and Lama continuing to the top of the mountain, after her forward fixing team ran into their own difficulties.
“The main reason that we got this message on the radio that the fixing team were having problems,” she said.
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‘We tried for hours to save him’
“So we had to make a decision to split up. And in this place, it is a very, very narrow trail, and it is impossible to have 10 people help around because there’s only room for one behind and one in front.
“We decided to split up, but we were sure he was still to get help.”
Asked about the location of the incident, she said: “This is probably the most dangerous part of K2 and K2 is probably the most dangerous mountain of all the big mountains.
“We know it is very risky to stay there – but we had to try to save him.”
She said her cameraman, Gabrielle, remained with Mr Hassan, and gave him warm water and oxygen by giving him his own mask.
Ms Harila previously hit back at criticism of her decision to continue to the summit in a post on Instagram.
“I am angry at how many people have been blaming others for this tragic accident,” she wrote.
“This was no one’s fault, you cannot comment when you do not understand the situation, and sending death threats is never okay.”
After reaching the top, Ms Harila filmed an “emotional” video celebrating their record-breaking climb.
She said she only discovered Mr Hassan had died as she climbed down the mountain, and that she and her team were unable to recover his body because it was “impossible to safely carry him down”.
“It is truly tragic what happened, and I feel very strongly for the family. If anything, I hope we can learn something from this tragedy,” she added.
K2, referred to as ‘killer mountain’, is located in the Karakorum mountain range. File pic: AP
German cameraman Philip Flaemig was on K2 at the time and recorded drone footage – but decided not to continue up the mountain as the conditions were too dangerous.
He said when he reviewed the video footage back at base camp, he saw dozens of people walking over Mr Hassan.
“He was still alive. In the next picture, there was just one person rubbing him, and I said: ‘Why? Why haven’t they brought him down?'”
“From my expertise of mountaineering – and I have been doing this 35 years – nobody can tell me that this man couldn’t have been helped.
German cameraman Philip Flaemig
“There are examples more and more about people at 8,000m who help people down. I know where he was found. I know what is the possibility to bring him down. It’s only snow slopes.
“There’s no reasonable explanation for this kind of behaviour.”
Austrian mountaineer Wilhelm Steindl, who was also on the mountain that day, but turned back due to the conditions, told Austria’s Standard newspaper: “lt would be unthinkable in the Alps.
“He was treated like a second-class human being. If he had been a Westerner, he would have been rescued immediately.
“No one felt responsible for him. What happened there is a disgrace. A living human was left lying so that records could be set.”
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Mr Steindl has since visited Mr Hassan’s family and has set up a GoFundMe page hoping to raise up to €100,000 (£86,500) to support them.
“He was 27 years old and had a family with three young children,” he said.
“When we found out about the family, we personally went to the mountain village to support the family.
Wilhelm Steindl with the family of Muhammad Hassan
“The mother is desperate because she has no financial means. In these remote villages, women are not educated and cannot earn money in the strictly Muslim country.”
K2 is widely regarded as the one of the hardest peaks in mountaineering – with 2018 figures showing that over a fifth of attempted ascents end in death.
Experts say K2 – the world’s second-tallest mountain above sea level – is even more dangerous than Everest – the tallest – because less of the mountain flattens off, and it is prone to avalanches and rock falls.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
Read more:
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Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
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Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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