SKARDU: A new evacuation arrangement has been agreed to help injured porters working along the Baltoro Corridor, using the empty return legs of helicopter cargo flights to bring them back from the mountains for medical assistance.
The plan was finalised during a meeting in Skardu between the Baltistan Association of Adventure Tour Operators (BAATO) and Petronet Aviation, with both sides also agreeing to coordinate search and rescue, medical evacuation and cargo operations through a shared operational system.
Under the arrangement, helicopters carrying cargo to the Baltoro region will use their otherwise empty return journeys to evacuate injured porters whenever operationally possible.
Petronet Aviation’s Sohail Zarar Ali Khan said the initiative was designed to address a longstanding problem faced by porters injured in remote glacier areas.
“Too many injured porters have had no way off the glacier,” he said.
“The helicopter is already going up with cargo. It comes back empty. That empty leg is how we bring them home.”
Khan said a memorandum of understanding between Petronet Aviation and Rescue 1122 Gilgit-Baltistan, covering helicopter search and rescue and medical evacuation, is awaiting approval from the Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet.
According to the participants, approval and signing of the MoU would help establish a more coordinated link between rescue efforts in high-altitude areas and the region’s emergency response services.
BAATO Secretary Sakhawat Hussain said the association supported the initiative as a practical way to improve safety for porters working in difficult mountain conditions.
“BAATO stands with the porters who carry this mountain,” he said, adding that an available empty return flight should be used to evacuate an injured porter wherever possible.
Petronet Aviation has already provided helicopter search-and-rescue training to Rescue 1122 Gilgit-Baltistan personnel in Skardu. Rescue 1122 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also received similar training and has requested another training batch.
The meeting was attended by BAATO President Ayaz Shigri, Secretary Sakhawat Hussain, Asghar Ali Porik, M. Iqbal Qadri of Summit Karakoram, Manzoor Ahmed of KTP, Ahmad Nasir and Shamshad Hussain.
The initiative could provide a significant safety improvement for porters operating in the Baltoro region, where difficult terrain, extreme weather and limited evacuation options can make even non-fatal injuries life-threatening.