AN INVESTIGATION is being launched following the death of a K2 climber near the peak of the world's most dangerous mountain.
It follows shocking footage of other sherpas "stepping over" the man in a bid to reach the summit.
The Pakistani porter, named Mohammed Hassan, could be seen laying in the snow after being injured from a fall.
The accusations surrounding events on July 27 on K2, the world's second-highest peak, overshadowed a record established by Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Sherpa guide Tenjin.
By climbing K2 that day, they became the world's fastest climbers, scaling the world's 14 highest mountains in 92 days.
Harila denied any responsibility surrounding the 27-year-old's death after he reportedly slipped and fell off a narrow trail known as the bottleneck.
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She took to Instagram on Friday to tell of her "anger" towards people who were blaming others for the dad-of-three's death – saying that no one was at fault.
Harila was defending herself against allegations from two other climbers who were on K2 that day, Austrian Wilhelm Steindl and German Philip Flaemig.
The pair had quit their climb because of weather conditions, but said they reconstructed the events later by looking at the drone footage.
The shocking footage has since been viewed by thousands of people online and people have been left enraged at how the porter was left on the ground while Harila and others continued on.
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"There is a double standard here. If I or any other Westerner had been lying there, everything would have been done to save them," Steindl told Associated Press.
"Everyone would have had to turn back to bring the injured person back down to the valley."
Speaking to Sky News, Harila said that Hassan had been dangling from a rope with his head towards the ground at "probably the most dangerous part of K2".
She then revealed that after around an hour of attempting to rescue him from the position, her team was able to pull him back up onto the trail.
Harila and one other member of her team decided to continue on towards the summit while another stayed with Hassan and gave him warm water and oxygen from his own mask.
In the interview, she explained that she made the decision to carry on heading toward the summit because her team ran into further difficulties which she did not give any more information on.
She also revealed that Hassan was not wearing a down suit, gloves, or oxygen tank.
An investigation has now been launched into Hassan's death, according to Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Pakistan Alpine Club.
The probe is being carried out by officials in the Gilgit-Baltistan region which has jurisdiction over K2, said Haidri.
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