Drone Discovers Scottish Climber Feared Dead in Himalayas

A drone was used to find missing 65-year-old Scottish mountaineer Rick Allen on July 10 after he went missing a day earlier in the Himalayas and was presumed dead, the BBC reported.

Allen was on an excursion with his climbing partner Sandy Allan and others and fell after a solo attempt on the 8,047m (26,401ft) summit of Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world, according to Sandy Allan’s blog. He was found on July 10 using a Mavic Pro drone piloted from K2 Base Camp by Polish climber Bartek Bargiel, the brother of the Andrzej Bargiel who is aiming to beat the K2 ascent record and become the first person to ski down the mountain.

The video shows the moment Bargiel’s drone discovered Allen on a steep ice cliff.

Climbers and Sherpas already on the mountain then found Allen in the evening, brought him down to safety through the darkness, and arrived at Base Camp on July 12, according to Allan’s blog post.

“After being examined by a doctor at basecamp, Rick is okay all things considered and has a few superficial cuts and some frostnip,” Allan wrote. Credit: Bartek Bargiel via Storyful