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Associated Press

Search-and-rescue teams have recovered four bodies near the site of an avalanche that left 10 climbers missing in northern Pakistan, police said on Friday.
“Preliminary reports indicate that four bodies have so far been recovered,” Gilgit-Baltistan region’s police spokesperson said in a statement on Facebook, adding that the condition of the remaining climbers was still being verified.
A search operation ended for the day and would resume on Saturday, police said.
Ten international mountaineers, led by renowned Nepal-born climber Nirmal Purja, had been missing after an avalanche struck Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan received initial reports that the avalanche struck the group, who had been out of communication since, club vice-president Karrar Haidri said in a statement late on Thursday.

The club said the expedition comprised 10 people, including five Nepalese, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China.
Police did not mention an American citizen and said two British nationals were in the missing team.
The club’s president, Major General Irfan Arshad, and senior leaders were in contact with government officials to facilitate a search-and-rescue operation in the challenging high-altitude environment in the Karakoram Range.
The club said two Pakistan Army aviation helicopters, carrying rescue personnel and additional specialised equipment, were dispatched to support the operation.

Nirmal Purja, 43, whom the club identified by a second name, Nims Dai, is a Nepal-born British citizen who served with Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines.
He has broken multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.
Purja climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres – 26,000 feet – in 189 days in 2019, then a record.
His climbs were made into a popular Netflix documentary, 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.
Purja wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen.

“Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote.
“I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves base camp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be.
“My purpose has never been about me. It’s about what I represent. It’s about showing YOU that your own mountains – whatever they are – are climbable.”
Pakistan is home to several top mountain peaks and climbers flock from all over the world to attempt to scale the summits.
“The Alpine Club of Pakistan is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with all concerned stakeholders,” the organisation’s statement on Thursday said.

It added that the club stands in solidarity with the climbers’ families and the international mountaineering community.
Broad Peak, regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000 metre-plus ascents, was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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Pakistan

4 bodies found after Pakistan avalanche hits climbing team led by Nepal’s Nirmal Purja

Broad Peak and K2 mountains are seen from  a glacier in Pakistan. Photo: Getty Images

Hongkonger Benjamin Chan scales Broad Peak without oxygen in 2019. Photo: Handout

Climber Nirmal Purja during a press conference in 2019. He was among 10 people missing on Friday after an avalanche struck Pakistan’s Broad Peak mountain. Photo: Reuters

Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja (R) and his team in Nepal in January 2021 after becoming the first to climb Pakistan’s K2 mountain in winter. Photo: AFP

Members of a rescue team in northern Pakistan prepare to depart from an airbase on a search operation for climbers missing after an avalanche on Broad Peak. Photo: Alpine Club of Pakistan via AP

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‘14 Peaks’ Netflix documentary star was at the helm of a group of mountaineers from Nepal, the US, China, Pakistan and Oman


‘14 Peaks’ Netflix documentary star was at the helm of a group of mountaineers from Nepal, the US, China, Pakistan and Oman.


4 bodies found after Pakistan avalanche hits climbing team led by Nepal’s Nirmal Purja

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘14 Peaks’ Netflix documentary star was at the helm of a group of mountaineers from Nepal, the US, China, Pakistan and Oman

‘14 Peaks’ Netflix documentary star was at the helm of a group of mountaineers from Nepal, the US, China, Pakistan and Oman