MANSEHRA: Two foreign adventurers, who had got stranded in heavy snowfall and rough weather while on a mission to summit Koh-i-Makra, the highest peak in the Kaghan Valley, were rescued by the police on Sunday.

“Thanks to Allah Almighty, we have successfully rescued Italian and French adventurers, who were stranded at the base camp of Koh-i-Makra for over 19 hours due to heavy snowfall and rough weather,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters in the Shogran tourist resort here.

A police team led by Mr Gandapur carried out the rescue operation after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed and Regional Police Officer Nasir Mehmood Satti were informed by the respective embassies about the missing foreigners.

The Koh-i-Makra peak is 12,746 feet above the sea level.

“We immediately launched an operation upon receiving the information and spent the entire night conducting the rescue. Both visitors were safely shifted from the base camp to the Shogran tourist resort,” Mr Gandapur said.

He explained that due to heavy snowfall and worsening weather conditions, the foreigners had lost contact with the police and their respective embassies, necessitating the nighttime rescue operation.

“We have been taking all possible measures to ensure the security and safety of foreign tourists visiting the Kaghan Valley for recreation and adventure activities” Mr Gandapur added.

The DPO said that the operation was carried out swiftly as the Meteorological Department had forecast another heavy spell of snowfall in Kaghan Valley within the next 24 hours.

The rescued foreigners – Francois and Carlo – who are affiliated with the United Nations, recounted their ordeal. “We had set out to summit Koh-i-Makra, but the weather turned rough, followed by heavy snowfall, which left us stranded at the base camp,” they said.

“Pakistan Zindabad, bravo to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police for rescuing us at the right time and safely bringing us to Shogran,” one of the rescued adventurers exclaimed in praise.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2025