A 55-year-old paraglider named Asif Mehmood went missing on Thursday after take-off from Zaini Pass in Upper Chitral due to bad weather, and his body was found the next day in Oveer Valley by a shepherd. The search operation involved rescue teams and local authorities, who feared Mehmood had crashed or made an emergency landing. The paraglider's body has been taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital for postmortem examination. This incident is reported as the first in Chitral in over 25 years, although two American paragliders were injured in a similar incident last year near Rush Lake in Gilgit.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Asif Mehmood, a 55-year-old paraglider from Wah Cantt, went missing on Thursday after take-off from Zaini Pass in Upper Chitral, following a sudden deterioration in weather. A search operation was launched, but it wasn't until Friday afternoon that his body was found in the highland pasture of Oveer Valley by a shepherd. Mehmood had been flying with a group of six paragliders, but only five managed to land safely while he crashed into a hillock, sustaining backbone and head injuries. His body has since been taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Booni, where a postmortem examination is being conducted.
Written for “Missing Paraglider Found Dead” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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No political leaning scored for article 7794 · logged 2026-09-11
The body of the 55-year-old paraglider Asif Mehmood, who went missing shortly after take-off from Zaini Pass in Upper Chitral on Thursday, was found in the highland pasture of Oveer Valley on Friday afternoon after a shepherd spotted him.
asserted
shepherd → go → him
A search operation had been underway in the high-altitude Barum hills after Mehmood, who was a resident of Wah Cantt, went missing following a sudden deterioration in weather.
asserted
who → go → weather
The president of Upper Chitral’s paragliders’ association Zahiruddin Baber, who participated in the search operation, told Dawn that the body was shifted to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Booni, where Mehmood’s postmortem examination was in progress, after which his body would be taken to his family members, currently present in Lower Chitral.
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body → participate → Chitral
Baber said that the paraglider had sustained backbone and head injuries after crashing into a hillock.
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paraglider → say → hillock
Earlier, Baber said that Mehmood was among a six-member group that took off from Zaini Pass, near Terichmir peak in the Hindu Kush, on Thursday afternoon.
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that → say → afternoon
He said the weather turned inclement about an hour into the flight.
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weather → say → flight
Five of the six paragliders, including Baber, managed to land safely, while Mehmood continued flying towards Chitral city.
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Mehmood → include → city
Baber said the association remained in radio contact with Mehmood for about one-and-a-half hours after take-off, but his signal subsequently went offline.
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signal → say → off
At the time, local authorities feared that Mehmood may have crashed or been forced to make an emergency landing in the difficult terrain of the Barum hills.
uncertain
Mehmood → fear → hills
Rescue 1122 teams launched a search operation after his disappearance.
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teams → launch → disappearance
The operation was suspended overnight due to darkness and poor visibility but resumed early on Friday.
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operation → suspend → Friday
The incident is said to be the first in Chitral in over 25 years.
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incident → say → years
Last year, two American paragliders were injured after crash-landing near Rush Lake in Gilgit’s Nagar at an altitude of 4,694 metres.
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paragliders → injure → metres