Bodies of 4 climbers found near northern Pakistan avalanche site: Police
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Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja served with Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas.
PHOTO: AFP
- Renowned Nepali climber Nirmal Purja and nine others are missing after an avalanche on Broad Peak in northern Pakistan during a climbing expedition.
- The team includes climbers from Nepal, Pakistan, Oman, the United States and China, as well as another foreigner, all out of communication since the incident.
- Rescue efforts involve Pakistan Army helicopters with specialised equipment to search for the stranded climbers in the challenging high-altitude environment.
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SKARDU, Pakistan – Search teams found four bodies near the site of an avalanche in northern Pakistan that left 10 people missing from a climbing expedition led by renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, police said on July 31.
A police spokesman in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region said search-and-rescue teams had reached the location the avalanche struck on July 30, cutting off contact with the international expedition that had been in the area.
“Preliminary reports indicate that four (04) bodies have so far been recovered,” the spokesman said in a statement on Facebook, adding that the condition of the remaining climbers was still being verified.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan said the expedition comprised 10 people – five Nepalese, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China. Police did not mention an American citizen and said two British nationals – a man and a woman – were in the missing team.
“The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) has received deeply concerning reports of an avalanche that struck a team of climbers on Broad Peak (8,047m) in the Karakoram mountain range,” the club said late on July 30.
“The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche,” it said.
Purja, 43, who served with Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, has broken multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.
He climbed all 14 “eight-thousanders” – peaks above 8,000m – in six months and six days between April and October 2019, then a record.
In 2021, Purja completed the first winter ascent of K2 along with a team of nine other Nepalese climbers.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Chinese officials were “urgently working to verify and understand the situation”, adding that Beijing was willing to provide assistance to Pakistan.
Rescuers equipped with geolocation devices have been dispatched to search for the missing climbers, the Alpine Club said.
“Through Global Positioning System (GPS), we have already traced the locations of four climbers,” Ayaz Shigri, general secretary of the Alpine Club said in the northern mountainous city of Skardu.
“For now, we can’t say anything about what exactly has happened,” he added.
‘Ask for nothing’
Purja wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen.
“Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote.
“I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves base camp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be,” he said. “My purpose has never been about me. It’s about what I represent. It’s about showing YOU that your own mountains – whatever they are – are climbable.”
Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000m-plus ascents.
It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.
The Alpine Club said two Pakistan Army helicopters, carrying rescue personnel and additional specialised equipment, have been sent to support the search operation.
“The helicopters are reinforcing efforts on the ground to assist the stranded climbers and enhance the effectiveness of the operation in the challenging high-altitude environment,” the club said. AFP
