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A 31-year-old Pakistani man, who went missing in June 1997 in an ice cave, was found perfectly preserved by a local shepherd.
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The discovery ends a painful three-decade search for a family who searched tirelessly for his body in the mountainous region of Kohistan.
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As glaciers retreat around the world due to climate change, discoveries of ancient bodies or artifacts are likely to increase as melting ice reveals their frozen tombs.
In June 1997, a 31-year-old Pakistani man named Naseeruddin, while traveling in the Supat Valley in the mountainous region of northern Pakistan called Kohistan, disappeared into a cave never to be seen again. He left behind a wife and two children, and for years, the missing man’s family searched the area for any sign of him— in the end, in vain.
“Our family has left no stone unturned to trace him over the years,” Malik Ubaid, the deceased’s grandson, told AFP. “Our uncles and cousins visited the glacier several times to see if his body could be recovered, but eventually gave up as it was not possible.”
After almost three decades, the search for Naseeruddin has finally come to an end. On July 31, a local shepherd in the valley named Omar Khan discovered the body of the missing man, with an identity card still on him. But that was not the only surprise.
“What I saw was unbelievable,” Khan told BBC Urdu. “The body was intact. The clothes weren’t even torn.”
For 28 years, Naseeruddin was laid mummified in the glacial ice. It went through a quick freezing process that then protected the body from moisture and oxygen. Pakistan contains some 7,000 glaciers—the largest number outside the Earth’s polar regions—and like many glaciers around the world, these ice giants are slowly disappearing due to anthropogenic climate change.
In northern Pakistan, climate change has caused a decrease in snowfall in the region, leading to more direct sunlight melting the glaciers. This unnatural warming is what eventually exposed Naseeruddin’s body, allowing the passing shepherd to finally lay the painful mystery to rest.
“Finally, we got some relief after the recovery of his dead body,” said Ubaid.
Glaciers and other icy bodies, like ice sheets, are basically planetary time capsules. Scientists around the world often dig ice cores to measure past climate events by analyzing the trapped air bubbles, as well as the isotropic composition of the surrounding ice. They can also provide incredible insight into humanity’s past. While many amazing artifacts they were found encased in glacial icethe most famous frozen find is Ötzi, also known as The Iceman, who was found in the Italian Alps in 1991 with his soft tissues and organs intact. This discovery provided an unprecedented insight into life and times and neolithic Europe.
While glaciers are amazing at preserving soft tissue (scientists even know what Ötzi’s last meal was), they are not as effective as cryogenic freezing, which can perfectly preserve an organism. That is why Ötzi, as well as other bodies of frozen WWI soldiers discovered in 2017, still show signs of decomposition and dehydration.
Unfortunately, Naseeruddin’s fate is one shared by many intrepid explorers who venture into these dangerous and cold altitudes. Last year, National Geographic reported the partial recovery of the Sandy Irvine mountains, which disappeared on Everest a century ago. In fact, crews regularly carried out clean-up campaigns on the world’s highest peak, often finding long-lost climbers frozen. across the mountains.
With glaciers rapidly retreating around the world, we will soon see what other mysteries—both tragic and fantastic—may be hidden at the top of the earth.
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