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Rescuers have found the body of celebrated mountaineer Nirmal Purja as they sift through a massive avalanche that killed all 10 members of an expedition on Pakistan’s Broad Peak, officials said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700 metres on Broad Peak,” Niala Kiani, a spokeswoman for the Alpine Club Pakistan, told dpa.<\/p>\n
Kiani said that the bodies of seven climbers have been found so far.<\/p>\n
The bodies of three other climbers – Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa “Kilu” – have also been traced, she added.<\/p>\n
The bodies are to be brought down amid extremely difficult conditions, the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
Purja was leading a 10-member expedition including six men from Nepal, one US woman, an Omani female mountaineer, a Chinese national and a Pakistani national when they were sept away by an avalanche and lost contact with the base on Thursday morning while summiting the 8,047-metre-high Broad Peak.<\/p>\n
The avalanche hit the expedition when the climbers were above 6,000 metres.<\/p>\n
A 10-member ground rescue team, comprising experienced climbers from Pakistan and Nepal, is taking part in the recovery efforts.<\/p>\n
Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 peaks higher than 8,000 metres: K2, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum II.<\/p>\n
Broad Peak, the world’s 12th tallest, is part of the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of climbers attempt to summit it every year along with K2, the world’s second-highest peak in the same region.<\/p>\n
Mountaineering accidents are common on Pakistani peaks and the frequency is increasing due to climate change, according to climbing experts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n