KUALA LUMPUR: The body of climber Zulkifli Yusuf, currently at a hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, will be repatriated to Malaysia after the completion of a post-mortem.
“Once the post-mortem is completed, the next process is to obtain the necessary documents for the repatriation of the body to Malaysia.
“This is with the help of the Malaysian consulate-general in Los Angeles and an insurance company,” said the Alpine Club Malaysia in a Facebook post yesterday, Bernama reported.
Additionally, it reported that climber Zainudin Lot’s health is improving and that the hospital in Talkeetna, Alaska, discharged him on Sunday.
“Meanwhile, Muhammad Illaham Ishak is still undergoing treatment at the hospital in Anchorage.
“Alpine Club representative Nor Safrina Shamsir Md Nasir, who is currently in Talkeetna, will assist with the matter of taking the hiking equipment, which is still on Mount Denali. It needs to be removed by the Denali National Park authorities,” the club added.
The club had said that Zulkifli’s remains were brought down from the mountain at 8.30am on Saturday local time (Malaysian time, 12.30am Sunday).
The three Malaysian climbers who successfully reached the peak of Mount Denali in Alaska, United States, were trapped because of adverse weather conditions during their descent on May 28.
Muhammad Illaham, 47, was the first to be rescued, while Zainudin, 47, and Zulkifli, 37, awaited rescue at an altitude of 5,990m.
The club said Zulkifli died at 6am local time on May 29 while taking shelter in a snow cave in an area known as the “football field”.