The bodies of renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja and three other climbers were recovered on Wednesday after an arduous search-and-recovery operation involving military helicopters. The recovery comes nearly a week after the mountaineers were killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan.
Purja’s body was found at an altitude of around 5,700 metres. With the latest recovery, the number of bodies retrieved has risen to seven after an avalanche struck a 10-member international climbing expedition on the Karakoram peak near K2.
Purja, popularly known as “Nims Dai”, was among those killed.
In a statement, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said, “The bodies of Nirmal Purja, (Chinese climber) Zhong Wang, Nima Sherpa, and Kilu Sherpa have been successfully recovered and have now arrived safely at Base Camp.”
The recovery mission was carried out by a team of Nepali and Pakistani rescuers led by veteran mountaineer Mingma G.
The team left the base camp on Wednesday morning and climbed above the 5,000-metre mark to retrieve the bodies of Purja, Nima Sherpa and Wang Zhong, which had remained stranded on the mountain.
Search teams had recovered three other bodies on August 1, while local officials said all the remains would be transported to a military hospital in Skardu once weather conditions permit.
Broad Peak, standing at 8,051 metres, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain and is considered one of the most technically challenging peaks to climb. Recovery operations at such extreme altitudes are particularly hazardous because of unstable snow, steep terrain and unpredictable weather.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan said three climbers remain missing following the avalanche.
Earlier reports had indicated that the body of Nepali climber Nawang Thindhu Sherpa was stranded in a hazardous section of the mountain above 6,000 metres.
Meanwhile, Nepal Mountaineering Association vice president Rajendra Bahadur Lama said the bodies of two other Nepali climbers had already reached Skardu.
“The body of Pur Bahadur Gurung, popularly known as ‘Yukta’, will reach Kathmandu on Thursday,” he said.
Lama added that the bodies of three other climbers, a Nepali, a Pakistani and an American, remain stranded at higher elevations and may take longer to recover because of the difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions.
The body of Omani climber Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy has already been repatriated to Oman, he added.
Purja, one of the world’s most celebrated mountaineers, set the record for the fastest ascent of all 14 of the world’s highest peaks, completing the feat in just six months in 2019.
He gained global recognition after the release of the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible in 2021, which chronicled the extraordinary achievement.
Before becoming a professional mountaineer, Purja served with the British Army’s Gurkhas and later with the UK’s Special Boat Service (SBS), one of the country’s elite special forces units.
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