An urgent search and rescue mission is underway on 7,439m Peak Pobeda in Kyrgyzstan for alpinist Mehri Jafari. Sources believe that Jafari was last seen on Wednesday, August 4, descending from an altitude of 6,000m.
Family, friends, and various groups have organized under the #RescueMehri social media campaign. They are calling on anyone with information of Jafari’s whereabouts to come forward. It is believed that another Iranian climber, Saeid Mirzaie, was ahead of Mehri on Peak Pobeda, though his status is not currently known.
Organizers have also called on the broader online community to contact and “put pressure on” the guide company, Ak-Sai Travel, and “all mountaineers at the base camp” to continue rescue efforts.
Anyone with information pertaining to Jafari Mehri or Saeid Mirzaie should reach out to the Ak-Sai Travel Company, Mehri’s Instagram account, as well as organizers of the #RescueMehri Facebook campaign.
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
On Thursday, a helicopter dispatched by Kyrzgytany authorities spotted an object high on Pobeda, but was unable to land because of the helicopter’s large size.
According to a recent Instagram post, Jafari planned to solo Pobeda Peak and Lenin Peak as part of a previously unfinished project. Pobeda (Victory) Peak is the northernmost 7,000’er in the world and is considered the most difficult of the five Snow Leopard summits. It is the highest mountain in the Tien Shan and is also known by its Kyrgyz name, Jengish Chokusu.
In 2008, Jafari became the first Iranian woman to summit neighboring Khan Tengri Peak. She is a British solicitor and Iranian human rights lawyer.
UPDATE: The Kyrgyz tour company, Ak-Sai Travel, stated that she “fell from a height of 6,300m” and that a rescue team can’t go to the site of the accident because of risk. However, back in England, Jafari’s colleagues insist that the report of her fall is “based on a single and vague eye witness statement. This is irresponsible and negligent on the part of the tour company.” They insist that a search and rescue operation should continue.
