Body of glacier chaser presumed found under ice

Police in Lhari county of the Tibet autonomous region announced on Wednesday a body likely to be that of the missing Wang Xiangjun, 30, a Chinese glacier adventurer, had been found on Sunday. Wang disappeared on Dec 20. The police said he accidentally slipped into a glacial waterfall.

The remains were found by local residents as they searched along the watercourse downstream from the Yiga Glacier in Lhari county, police said. The body was found under an ice layer.

An investigative team composed of 19 staff members from the county's forensic technology, emergency rescue and firefighting departments rushed to the scene to investigate and retrieve the body.

The team identified the body as that of a male. The adventurer's brother, Wang Long, had said earlier on social media his brother was dead, but police at the time did not confirm that conclusively.

"On Dec 20, my brother decided to stay forever in his favorite waterfall," Wang Long wrote on Dec 26.

A large-scale investigation was conducted over many weeks, with local police suggesting on Feb 22 that Wang Xiangjun had died — although no body had been found at that point.

As a glacier lover and eco-environmental promoter, the glacier-chaser had photographed more than 70 masses of glacial ice in Southwest China over the past seven years. In December 2019, Wang was invited to be a guest speaker at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 25 to share his experience shooting glaciers.

He made it his mission to get up close and personal with glaciers, hoping to raise awareness in China and beyond about climate change and global warming.

The search for Wang's body around the glacier and lower reaches of the waterfall was extensive, with more than 200 people, including police, emergency rescue personnel, firefighters, hospital workers and local residents.

An official confirmation of the victim's identity awaits the completion of legal procedures.