CHITRAL: The body of the 55-year-old paraglider Asif Mehmood, who went missing shortly after take-off from Zaini Pass in Upper Chitral on Thursday, was found in the highland pasture of Oveer Valley on Friday afternoon after a shepherd spotted him.

A search operation had been underway in the high-altitude Barum hills after Mehmood, who was a resident of Wah Cantt, went missing following a sudden deterioration in weather.

The president of Upper Chitral’s paragliders’ association Zahiruddin Baber, who participated in the search operation, told Dawn that the body was shifted to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Booni, where Mehmood’s postmortem examination was in progress, after which his body would be taken to his family members, currently present in Lower Chitral.

Baber said that the paraglider had sustained backbone and head injuries after crashing into a hillock.

Earlier, Baber said that Mehmood was among a six-member group that took off from Zaini Pass, near Terichmir peak in the Hindu Kush, on Thursday afternoon.

He said the weather turned inclement about an hour into the flight. Five of the six paragliders, including Baber, managed to land safely, while Mehmood continued flying towards Chitral city.

Baber said the association remained in radio contact with Mehmood for about one-and-a-half hours after take-off, but his signal subsequently went offline.

At the time, local authorities feared that Mehmood may have crashed or been forced to make an emergency landing in the difficult terrain of the Barum hills.

Rescue 1122 teams launched a search operation after his disappearance. The operation was suspended overnight due to darkness and poor visibility but resumed early on Friday.

The incident is said to be the first in Chitral in over 25 years. Last year, two American paragliders were injured after crash-landing near Rush Lake in Gilgit’s Nagar at an altitude of 4,694 metres.