World

Body of man missing for 28 years found in melting glacier

August 06, 2025
The man's identity card was found with body
The man's identity card was found with body

ISLAMABAD — The body of a man missing for 28 years has been found in a melting glacier in Pakistan's remote and mountainous Kohistan region.

A shepherd stumbled upon the body, which was remarkably well-preserved, with its clothing intact, in the so-called Lady Valley in the country's east.

Along with the body was an ID card with the name Naseeruddin. Police were able to trace it to a man who disappeared in the area in June 1997 after falling into a glacier crack during a snowstorm.

The region has seen decreased snowfall in recent years, exposing glaciers to direct sunlight, making them melt faster. Experts said the body's discovery shows how changing climate has accelerated glacial melt.

"What I saw was unbelievable," the shepherd who found the body, Omar Khan, told BBC Urdu. "The body was intact. The clothes were not even torn."

As soon as police confirmed that it was Naseeruddin, locals began offering more information, Mr Khan added.

Naseeruddin had a wife and two children. He was travelling with his brother, Kathiruddin, on horseback on the day he went missing. Police said a family feud had forced the two men to leave their home.

Kathiruddin told BBC Urdu that they had arrived in the valley that morning, and sometime around afternoon, his brother stepped into a cave. When he did not return, Kathiruddin says he looked for him inside the cave - and went and got help from others in the area to search further. But they never found him.

When a human body falls into a glacier, the extreme cold freezes it fast, preventing decomposition, said Prof Muhammad Bilal, head of the Department of Environment at Comsats University Islamabad.

The body is then mummified due to a lack of moisture and oxygen in the glacier. — BBC


August 06, 2025
655 views
HIGHLIGHTS
World
10 hours ago

Trump, Putin to meet in Alaska on Aug. 15 for talks on ending Ukraine war

World
10 hours ago

Armenia, Azerbaijan sign US-brokered peace roadmap to end decades of conflict

World
22 hours ago

World leaders criticize Israel’s Gaza City takeover decision as humanitarian concerns rise