Thiruvananthapuram: Sheikh Hassan Khan, a 38-year-old Kerala government employee and seasoned mountaineer who has scaled peaks across multiple continents, has issued an SOS call for urgent rescue after being stranded amid a severe storm at 17,000 feet on Mount Denali, North America’s highest peak.

On Wednesday, BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar shared the distress message on his X handle.

"Sheikh Hassan Khan was stuck in a severe storm in Mount Denali, the highest peak of N America. Desperately looking for assistance. just managed to send SoS from Sat fone..." In his message, Khan says, “Less food and water to survive. I am here on a mission to hold a banner to congratulate our armed forces for Operation Sindoor. Only God can help us from this situation. Please ask all to pray. This is from a satellite phone,” reads Khan's SOS message.

Acting on this, Chandrasekhar said he has taken it up with the Prime Minister’s office and also with the Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar.

"I have alerted @DrSJaishankar and his team. I am also tagging the Indian Embassy in Washington DC @IndianEmbassyUS to please help Stay Safe," Chandrasekhar wrote on his X handle while reposting the SOS message from Khan.

Incidentally, in June 2023, Khan, having climbed Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro, had conquered the treacherous Mount Denali. Then he had spoken with IANS, calling "Denali a beautiful mountain, but Everest is a mighty one".

"Climbing Denali is more difficult than climbing Mount Everest. If you climb Denali, you could be better called a Mountaineer," said Khan to IANS over the phone from Denver in 2023.

The only mountain that Khan has not scaled so far is the tallest peak in Australia.

Khan works in the Kerala state secretariat and has taken a five-year leave to achieve his target of climbing the tallest peak on all the continents.

Reacting to Khan’s SOS, his close friend and former colleague, George Mathew, told IANS that Khan had informed him that he was going back to scale Mount Denali again with a group of passionate mountaineers.

“We are all praying for his rescue and wish it happens quickly. He is so passionate about climbing mountains,” said Mathew. IANS