As Mohammad Hassan lay critically injured 400 meters from the top of K2, dozens of fellow climbers cautiously approached him, risking their lives as they clung to the side of the narrow ledge.
And then they carried on – scrambling around the stricken 27-year-old as they left him to die as they continued their own personal quest for glory.
Now that footage of the incident has surfaced, their decision to leave him has caused quite a stir among the mountaineering community.
Hassan, a father of three high-altitude porters from Pakistan who worked for Lela Peak Expedition, died after an avalanche pushed him over a ledge while climbing the 28,300-foot K2 mountain on July 27.
The footage shows people physically climbing over Hassan as he lies helpless in the deep snow.
Instead of helping him, his fellow climbers climbed past him up the mountainside without offering any assistance
The video then pans over to show clouds several thousand feet below them, showing how high they were when the footage was captured.
The air is so thin at this altitude that all the people in the video wore oxygen masks.
It seems only one person helped him, an unknown rescuer who managed to keep him conscious for a while before he died of his injuries. There was no rescue operation to help the young man.
Fellow climber Wilhelm Steindl, who also participated in the ascent but had returned to base camp earlier due to the dangerous conditions, says to the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph that he was getting sick of the passivity of the fellow climbers.
“It was a very heated, competitive race to the top. What happened there is outrageous.
“A living person is left behind, so records can be set. It only took 3 or 4 people to save him. If I had seen it, I would have climbed up to help the poor man,’ Steindl said
“A living person is left behind, so records can be set. It only took 3 or 4 people to save him. Had I seen it, I would have climbed up to help the poor man.’
He revealed in a GoFundMe set up for Mr. Hassan’s family that he leaves behind three children and a wife, as well as an elderly grandmother.
At the time of publication, the page has already raised £63,000.
Various accounts of the tragedy have circulated, leading to uncertainty about exactly what happened up until K2.
Lakpa Sherpa, a mountaineer who was on the climb and took the video, told MailOnline: ‘Some climbers and Sherpas tried to save his life, although he died.
The video then pans over to show clouds several thousand feet below them, showing how high they were when the footage was captured
Bulgarian climber Silvia Azdreeva said: ‘This mountain is not for everyone. K2 has a very heavy character’
“The climbers have all spent a lot of money doing this climb and there is also the value of time for the climb. Hundreds of climbers tried to save him, but they can’t give up their mission.
“The reality is they have tried to save life and this is below the bottleneck of the great serace where it is impossible to cross without a rope so it is a very difficult situation.
“Many climbers and sherpas told him to go back because he had very poor equipment and was not well rested and also very bad weather during the summit window, but he didn’t listen and then fell down.
“It was very difficult to bring the body down. They have to climb the mountain. There’s only a small chance for them.’
Bulgarian climber Silvia Azdreeva said in a Facebook post about the climb, “On K2 there is no one to rescue you so quickly, you will have to wait for days if something happens to you.
This mountain is not for everyone. K2 has a very heavy character.’
Shockingly, Wilhelm Steindl claimed that a party was held shortly after Mr. Hassan died in honor of Kristin Harila, a Norwegian woman who set a new world record after climbing 14 of the world’s highest peaks in just over 3 months.
“I didn’t go, I was disgusted. Someone had just died there,” said the furious climber.
MailOnline has contacted Lela Peak Expedition for comment.