GILGIT: The Alpine Club (ACP) of Pakistan said on Sunday that a rescue team had found celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja’s body at approximately 5,700 metres on the Broad Peak mountain — three days after he and other members of his team were reported missing after an avalanche.
On Saturday, his expedition organising company Elite Exped announced that all members of the expedition, which also included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, had died.
The bodies of three climbers were recovered by then, as well as the remains believed to be of a climber from the United States, Naila Kiani of the ACP told Dawn on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the ACP announced in a statement that Purja’s body had been found.
“The Alpine Club of Pakistan shares this update with profound sorrow. The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed. The ground team will bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp.
“Recovery efforts continue under extremely difficult terrain conditions. This information reflects preliminary field reports and remains subject to further confirmation. We urge the public to await official updates before sharing unverified details,” the statement said.
Prior to the announcement, ACP General Secretary Ayaz Shigri told Dawn that the ground rescue team was heading towards the advanced base camp on the mountain to carry out the operation. He said that the mountain’s terrain, risk of avalanches and steep slopes were posing challenges in the way of rescue efforts, adding that helicopters could not be employed due to weather conditions.
Later, the ACP said in a statement that an eight-member ground team, comprising climbers from Pakistan and Nepal, reached Camp 1 (C1) before 9am. “They will conduct a search and recovery mission on the slopes of Broad Peak under extremely difficult conditions,” the statement added.
Purja’s expedition team included 10 members, including him. Six of them were Nepalese while there was one each from Pakistan, Oman, the US and China.
The three bodies recovered on Saturday were identified as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and Gyalu Sherpa. Meanwhile, the remains believed to be of American climber Sarah Mallory Geis were also recovered.
Kiani told Dawn that on Saturday, five other bodies were also spotted, including Purja and Pakistan’s Sohail Sakhi, through aerial reconnaissance.
More to follow
