GILGIT: Four bodies were found on Friday as a search operation was underway to locate climbers, including renowned Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja and Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, who went missing on Broad Peak a day earlier after an avalanche struck around midday.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said that the 10-member team included six Nepalese climbers, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American and a climber from China. The climbers from Nepal were identified as Purja, Pur Bahadur Gurung, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa. It identified the remaining climbers as Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, Sakhi from Pakistan, Wang Zhong from China and Mallory Geis from the United States.

ACP President Major General Irfan Arshad told Dawn that four bodies had been found. He identified two of the dead as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung.

Rescue operation

In a statement issued earlier in the day, ACP Senior Vice President Karrar Haidri said two Pakistan Army Aviation rescue helicopters, carrying rescue personnel and additional specialised equipment, had been dispatched to support the ongoing search and rescue operation.

The statement said the ACP president, along with the club’s senior leadership, remained in constant contact with the highest government authorities and relevant agencies to facilitate the rescue operation.

“Every possible effort is being made to ensure that helicopter support and all available rescue resources are mobilised at the earliest opportunity, subject to weather and operational conditions,” it added.

The club said it was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with all relevant stakeholders while expressing solidarity with the climbers’ families and the international mountaineering community.

ACP’s General Secretary Ayaz Shigri told Dawn that several expedition teams had jointly begun their summit push before the incident.

He said GPS locations received from some of the missing climbers indicated that the avalanche had swept the group about 1,000 metres downhill, leaving them trapped.

Shigri said helicopter-assisted rescue operations were expected to begin on Friday morning. He said there were also fears that some local high-altitude porters might have been affected by the avalanche.

“We pray for the safety of all the climbers. It is a big incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Amjad Hussain Advocate directed all relevant departments to remain on high alert and expedite the search and rescue operation in coordination with the Pakistan Army, according to an official statement.

He instructed the district administration and concerned authorities to utilise all available resources to ensure the climbers’ safety.

Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Tourism, Sports and Culture Naiknam Karim also expressed sorrow over the incident and said the provincial government was making every possible effort to locate and safely rescue the missing climbers.

In a statement, he said “all relevant departments are in constant coordination and that every available resource was being utilised to support the ongoing search and rescue operation”.

Expressing hope that the missing climbers would be found safe, the minister directed the concerned authorities to further expedite the rescue operation and ensure that all necessary logistical and operational support was provided to the teams working in the field.

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 8,000 metres, or 26,000 feet) 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.

Sakhi, who hails from Hunza, had successfully summited Kanchenjunga (8,58­6m), the world’s 3rd highest mountain, in Nepal earlier in May. He had previously scaled K2, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II without supplemental oxygen, establishing himself among the country’s strongest high-altitude climbers.

Additional input from AFP