Home > News

Solo Mountaineer is Missing on Kyrgyzstan Peak

Jafari Mehdi was due back from her summit attempt last week

A possible search and rescue mission is ongoing in the efforts to find Iranian climber Mehri Jafari who was last seen on Aug. 4 on Peak Pobeda (7,439 m) in Kyrgystan.

Late last week, a helicopter possibly spotted Jafari on Pobeda but was unable to land. One climber said they witnessed Jafari fall, and that climbers with the campany Ak-Sai Travel refuse to go look due to the risk in travelling to the area.

Friends and family of Jafari are reaching out to the international community in hopes pressure will be put on Ak-Sai to launch another rescue mission. The campaign #RescueMehri is circulating on a number of media platforms, with the family saying: “Please contact Ak-Sai Travel (https://ak-sai.com/en/) and put pressure on them to organise an urgent rescue for Mehri as soon as possible. Also, we urge all contacts and followers of Saeid Mirzaie, who we understand was ahead of Mehri on the ascent to the summit, to do anything he and his team can do on their descent to #RescueMehri”

Jafari was hoping to solo Pobeda and then the nearby Lenin Peak. Pobeda (Jengish Chokusu) is one of the five Snow Leopard summits, with the others being Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,500 m), Ibn Sina Peak (7,134 m), Peak Korzhenevskaya (7,100 m), and Khan Tengri (7,010 m). Jafari climbed Khan Tengri Peak in 2008 as the first Iranian woman.

A number of British Labour MP’s have also called to help track down Ms Mehri, who is a London Labour activist. Labour MP, Emily Thornberry tweeted: “My constituent and activist party member Mehri Jafari is lost on a mountain in Kyrgyzstan. Money is being raised urgently to pay for a rescue mission. Can you help?”

Another Iranian climber, Saeid Mirzaie, was ahead of Mehdi on Pobeda, but his location is currently unknown.

 

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The Best Climbing Gear According to Our Editors – March

Every month we're bringing you our favourite gear so you can complete your climbing kit with the latest and best stuff out there