Man Found in Glacier 28 Years After Disappearance... Body and ID 'Intact'

Missing Persons Found as Glaciers Melt Due to Climate Change
Body Mummified by Lack of Moisture and Oxygen in Glacier

The body of a family breadwinner who went missing 28 years ago has been found inside a glacier.

Nasirdin's ID card found in a glacier in Pakistan after 28 years of disappearance on the 31st of last month. Facebook capture

On August 8 (local time), CBS News and other U.S. outlets reported that residents discovered the body of Nasirddin (31 years old at the time of death) at the edge of the Ratti Meadows glacier in the Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In June 1997, Nasirddin left home on horseback with his older brother Katiruddin due to family discord. While passing through a glacial area, he entered a cave in a valley and subsequently disappeared. His family believed he had fallen into a crevasse inside the cave. At the time of his disappearance, Nasirddin was the head of a household with two children and a wife. His brother reportedly survived unharmed.

Police believe that Nasirddin, while sheltering in the cave to escape heavy snowfall, slipped and fell through a crevice in the glacier. Malik Ubaid, the deceased's nephew, explained, "Relatives searched several areas of the glacier for his body, but it proved impossible and they eventually gave up." He added, "Now that his body has finally been recovered, we feel a slight sense of relief."

CBS reported that on the 31st of last month, a local shepherd happened to discover the body nearby. Thanks to the glacier, the body was relatively well preserved. His clothes were intact, and he was still carrying his ID card. The body was buried on the 6th. The BBC explained, "When a human body is buried in a glacier, it freezes rapidly due to the extreme cold," and "the lack of moisture and oxygen inside the glacier causes the body to become mummified."

The Kohistan region of Pakistan, which is known as the "Third Pole" due to having more than 13,000 glaciers?more than anywhere else on Earth outside the polar regions?has recently seen its glaciers melt due to climate change, which is believed to have led to the discovery of Nasirddin's body.

Foreign media reported, "As glaciers around the world continue to melt due to recent abnormal weather, climbers, ski tourists, and mountaineers who went missing decades ago are being discovered one after another." They added, "In July last year, the body of a mountaineer who went missing 22 years earlier while climbing a snow-covered peak in Peru was found."

In 2023, the body of a German climber who disappeared in 1986 was also found in a Swiss Alpine glacier. In 2017, the bodies of a couple who had gone missing 75 years earlier were discovered as a Swiss glacier melted.