A record-breaking mountaineer has denied claims she climbed over a dying Sherpa in order to reach the summit of K2.
Having climbed over 8,611m, Norwegian athlete Kristin Harila shared a video of herself celebrating the feat on social media.
However, many have accused the 37-year-old of ‘walking over’ Mohammad Hassan, in her bid to reach the top.
The Norwegian athlete first uploaded the video on Aug 8, sharing her excitement at reaching the summit of K2 in Pakistan.
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Her gruelling climb had been part of a world record attempt that saw her and her partner, Lama, summit 14 peaks in just three months and one day.
After accomplishing her ascent, the mountaineer gushed about the feat in an Instagram video – which she then shared with her 160,000 followers.
However, during the ascent porter Mohammed Hassan fell off the edge from a height of about 8,200 metres.
The 27-year-old then tragically passed, leaving behind a wife and three young sons.
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Images and videos then emerged online of the team allegedly climbing over him during the ascent, with dozens of users having descended on Harila’s social media.
One wrote: “Mohammad Hassan died, how dare you celebrate your stupid record? Where is your humanity?”
Another added: “…The only real mountain you climb successfully is full of shame, no love and pure sadness…”
Despite this, Harila hit back against the mounting speculation and gave a statement on her website.
In the lengthy post, she hit out at people sharing footage of the dying sherpa and the ‘misinformation’ around the incident.
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She also recalled how Hassan had been part of another team making the ascent on that day, explaining how the tragic incident unfolded.
As the groups climbed the narrow path to the top, the experienced sherpa fell five meters - leaving the 27-year-old dangerously exposed to the elements.
Harila claims that part of her team tried to help pull the injured man to safety, however, Hassan’s body temperature had already begun to plummet.
Others arrived on the scene to help, with various people, including Harila’s team, aiding the injured Sherpa for over an hour.
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Eventually, the mountaineer and her team continued their climb as Hassan reached treatment.
Harila explained the reason why, telling readers: “We decided to continue forward as too many people in the bottleneck would make it more dangerous for a rescue… We did not fully understand the gravity of everything that happened until later.”
She finished the lengthy statement, calling the incident ‘tragic’ and asked that others ‘be kind’ following the untimely death of Hassan.
The mountaineer has also shared a GoFundMe page for the Sherpa's family.
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LADbible has reached out for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Kristin Harila/Lakpa Sherpa (8k Expeditions)Topics: World News, Travel