How tragedy unfolded in the northern Pakistan mountains: Brit trekker’s body found at the bottom of a ravine near walking track ‘even locals avoided’
British trekker Alexander Harris, 30, from Birmingham, died after falling into a ravine while descending Musa Ka Musalla mountain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He and his friend Alun David Cooper Cledwyn had reached the 13,000ft summit together on Saturday morning, but became separated during the descent amid worsening weather, prompting a two-day search by hundreds of police officers, volunteers and drones.
Harris's body was eventually found roughly 200ft down a cliff near the Paracha Katha Stream, in an area so remote and treacherous that even local trekkers avoid it, which delayed the discovery. An experienced endurance runner who had climbed the same mountain previously, Harris is believed to have lost his footing on a misty, rain-soaked ridge after his phone lost signal, though his GPS watch was still functioning. His friend reported him missing after reaching their accommodation without him; a running club organiser who knew Harris said he likely died from the fall on Saturday evening.
- British trekker Alexander Harris, 30, died falling into a Pakistan mountain ravine.
- He and a friend split up during descent in poor weather.
- Body found after two-day search in area locals avoid.
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Alexander Harris, 30, from Birmingham, was a keen and experienced endurance runner who had already climbed Musa Ka Musalla, a 13,000ft mountain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan, before setting off to summit it again with his friend Alun David Cooper Cledwyn. The pair reached the top together, but conditions turned bad during the descent and the two men became separated, leading Harris's friend to raise the alarm when he arrived back at their accommodation alone.
What followed was a large search effort involving hundreds of police officers, local volunteers and drones, hampered by poor weather and the remoteness of the terrain. The mountain sits in a mountainous, sparsely populated part of northern Pakistan popular with trekkers, but parts of the route are known locally to be dangerous and are avoided even by experienced local walkers.
The case has drawn attention both because of the scale of the search and because it highlights the risks faced by foreign trekkers tackling remote, high-altitude routes in the region, where mobile phone signal can be unreliable and rescue can take considerable time to reach isolated areas.