A search team has transported the bodies of renowned climber Nirmal Purja and three of his team members to the base camp of the mountain where they were killed in an avalanche, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Wednesday.

The avalanche struck on July 30, cutting off contact with the 10-member international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja on Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains. His company confirmed there were no survivors.

“On behalf of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, it is announced with great sadness to confirm that, following an exceptionally challenging and technically demanding recovery operation on Broad Peak, the bodies of Nirmal Purja, Zhong Wang, Nima Sherpa, and Kilu Sherpa have been successfully recovered and have now arrived safely at Base Camp,” the ACP posted on social media, referring to a Chinese mountaineer and two other Nepali climbers.

“While today marks an important milestone, three climbers remain missing,” the club said.

“We remain committed to supporting all possible efforts to locate and recover them, whenever conditions allow, so that they too may be returned home to their loved ones,” it added.

The remains of three other members of the team — an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali man — had already been flown off the mountain to Skardu.

The bodies of Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi of Hunza and two Nepali nationals have not yet been recovered. Funeral prayers were offered in absentia for Sakhi in his hometown of Aliabad in Hunza on Monday, where hundreds of people paid tribute to the young mountaineer and offered condolences to his family.

Shock and grief have hit members of the alpine climbing community with the President of Nepal’s National Mountain Guide Association Tul Singh Gurung saying they had “lost a generation of accomplished mountaineers”.

The ACP said the recovered bodies of the four climbers would be returned to their families.

The club’s president, Major General (retd.) Irfan Arshad Khan, told Dawn that the deceased climbers would be airlifted to Skardu by helicopters, which had been unable to operate for the last three days due to adverse weather conditions.

“We hope this recovery brings them a measure of peace and the opportunity to lay their loved ones to rest with the dignity they deserve,” the club said.

It extended its gratitude to those leading and supporting rescue efforts — including the ground recovery team led by Mingma G and supported by Sirbaz Khan — as well as the dedicated Pakistani and Nepali recovery teams, the Pakistan Army, the governments of Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, local authorities, the British High Commission, and the Embassy of Nepal for their invaluable support throughout the mission.

Nirmal’s business partner and Member of Nepal’s House of Representatives Mingma David Sherpa, who is currently monitoring the rescue and search operation, appreciated the “courage, professionalism, and selfless commitment” of the ground recovery team, saying, “We are deeply grateful to every member of the team for carrying out this mission under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions.”

“Our thoughts also remain with the families of the three climbers who are still missing. We remain committed to supporting every possible effort to bring them home when conditions safely allow,” he added.

Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000-metre-plus ascents.

It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.