The body of renowned Nirmal Purja was found on Sunday, three days after he and his team were swept away in a horror avalanche on Broad Peak, the mountain located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan. Purja’s body was found at an altitude of around 5,700 metres, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said.
It added that five of the 10 bodies have been recovered from the horror avalanche tragedy, while efforts to find the other five are underway.ย “The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed,” the ACP said.ย
The bodies will be brought down to the Japanese camp, while the recovery efforts continue despite the difficult conditions in the mountains, it added. Meanwhile, the ACP further stated that the helicopters can’t be deployed as due to the terrain of the mountains and the risk of avalanches.
All 10 mountaineers dead during their climb: Elite Exped
Meanwhile, Purja’s expedition enterprise, Elite Exped, confirmed that all 10 mountaineersย on a mission to scale the world’s 12th-highest mountain died in the avalanche. Purja was a renowned Nepalese-British mountaineer, while his teammates included five members from Nepal, one from Pakistan, one from Oman, one from America and one from China. Bodies of four mountaineers were found on Friday. According toย ACP President Major General Irfan Arshad,ย three of the deceased have been identified as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and American Mallory Geis.
Purja had a fabled mountaineering career, having scaled all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters in the world in only six months and six days. He set a new record in 2019. Meanwhile, Purja was about to complete his mission of scaling all 14 highest peaks in the world twice after climbing the Broad Peak. The Broad Peak is an 8,047-meter mountain known to be one of the most challenging mountains in the world.ย
Pak tour operator shares image moments before tragedy
Meanwhile, a Pakistan-based tour operator, Karakoram Vision, shared the picture of the mountaineers climbing the Broad Peak moments before the avalanche struck them.ย “We were watching from base camp and could clearly see the 10 international climbersโincluding world-famous mountaineer Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purjaโpushing up the mountain,” the group said in the post.ย “Suddenly, a massive avalanche triggered above them. After the snow cleared, we scanned the upper slopes with horror. No one was visible anymore. It’s a big tragedy on Broad Peak,” it added.
(With PTI Inputs)
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