• Remains of Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and American Mallory Geis recovered
• Presence of more bodies also confirmed through drone footage
• Search operation may resume today when weather improves
GILGIT: Three bodies were found on Friday as a search operation to locate climbers who went missing on Broad Peak a day after an avalanche struck was suspended due to bad weather.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said the 10-member team included six Nepalese climbers, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American and a Chinese climber. The Nepalese climbers were identified as renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, Pur Bahadur Gurung, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa.
The ACP identified the remaining climbers as Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, Wang Zhong from China and Mallory Geis from the United States.
According to a press release issued by the Baltistan Division commissioner, a search and rescue operation was launched on the formal request of the tour operators.
A three-member civil rescue team, led by Sarbaz Khan, was airlifted to Broad Peak Base Camp by Pakistan Army Aviation helicopters.
The rescue team identified three of the missing climbers as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and Mallory Geis from the United States.
The recovered bodies were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu by Pakistan Army Aviation helicopters.
The statement said the presence of more climbers had also been identified through drone footage during the search operation.
It added that the search and rescue operation had been temporarily suspended on Friday due to adverse weather conditions and would resume on Saturday (today) when the weather improved.
Earlier, various media outlets had reported that four bodies had been found during the operation.
Trekking company Seven Summit Treks (SST) had three Sherpa guides among the missing climbers, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, a board director, told Reuters.
Mr Chhang said the team members’ last tracked location at the time of the suspected avalanche was at 6,600 metres (21,653 feet) and they “fell down straight from there”.
In a statement issued earlier, 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.
ACP 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.
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 a statement.
GB 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.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a news briefing on Friday that Chinese authorities were “urgently verifying the situation and gathering information” and “are willing to offer help based on the requirements of the Pakistan side”.
Who were the climbers?
Mr 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, Mr Purja completed the first winter ascent of K2 along with a team of nine other Nepalese climbers.
Ms Geis had posted on social media in mid-June that she had new boots ready for what she called “her first big kid climbing expedition in Pakistan”.
Mr Sakhi, who hails from Hunza, had successfully summited Kanchenjunga (8,586m), the world’s third-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.
Mr Gurung, also known as Yukta, was certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations and was very close to completing the 14-peaks challenge, in which climbers attempt to summit the world’s 14 mountains that rise at least 8,000m above sea level, according to BBC News.
Mr Pemba has so far summited Everest 15 times. In 2021, he was a member of a historic K2 winter expedition. Mr Pemba is also the guide who led double amputee Xia Boyu to the summit of Everest in 2018.
Additional input from Agencies and Monitoring Desk
Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2026
