Search team shifts bodies of Nirmal Purja, 3 others to Broad Peak base camp

The bodies of renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja and three members of his expedition have been brought to the Broad Peak base camp following a difficult recovery operation, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Wednesday.

The 10-member international expedition lost contact after an avalanche struck Broad Peak on July 30. The team was led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja, and his expedition company later confirmed that none of the climbers had survived.

In a statement shared on social media, the ACP said the bodies of Purja, Chinese climber Zhong Wang, and Nepali climbers Nima Sherpa and Kilu Sherpa had been successfully recovered after an exceptionally challenging operation and transported safely to the mountain's base camp.

The club said the recovery mission was still not over, as three climbers remain missing.

Earlier, the bodies of three other members of the expedition — an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali climber — were airlifted from the mountain to Skardu.

Meanwhile, the bodies of Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi from Hunza and two Nepali climbers have yet to be recovered. Funeral prayers in absentia for Sakhi were offered on Monday in his hometown of Aliabad, Hunza, where hundreds of residents gathered to pay tribute and express sympathy with his family.