Nirmal Purja’s body brought down to base camp from Pakistan’s Broad Peak

Search teams backed by military helicopters recovered the bodies of renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja and three other missing climbers on Wednesday following an “exceptionally challenging and technically demanding” operation.

This brings the number of bodies recovered from Broad Peak to seven nearly a week after an avalanche swept away a 10-member international expedition, officials said on Wednesday.

Search teams brought down three other bodies on 1 Aug. The bodies will be transported to a military hospital in Skardu when weather conditions permit, local officials said.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Alpine Club of Pakistan announced that “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”.

A recovery team of Nepali and Pakistani rescuers led by mountaineer Mingma G had set out from Base Camp on Wednesday morning and reached above the 5,000-metre mark, where the bodies of Purja, Nima Sherpa, and Wang Zhong had remained stranded.

Major General Irfan Arshad, the president of the Alpine mountaineering club, said: “I extend my sincere gratitude to the dedicated ground recovery team, led by Mingma G and supported by Sirbaz Khan, Abid Baig, Sherbaz, together with Dipen Gurung and Pemba Chhewang Sherpa whose courage, professionalism, and selfless commitment made this recovery possible under extremely difficult conditions.”

Alpine Club, however, said that three climbers still remain missing.

It was reported earlier that Nepali climber Nawang Thindhu Sherpa’s body remained stranded in a hazardous area above 6,000m.

“We remain committed to supporting all possible efforts to locate and recover them, whenever conditions allow, so that they too may be returned home to their loved ones,” ACP said.

“The recovered climbers will now begin their final journey home to their families.”

Ten climbers from five countries were killed when a massive avalanche swept through Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region on 30 July.

The group, including Purja, was making a summit push on the world’s 12th-highest mountain when the avalanche struck between Camps II and III.

The victims included elite Sherpa guides, experienced high-altitude climbers and clients pursuing long-held mountaineering ambitions from Nepal, Oman, China, Pakistan and the United States.

Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar expressed condolences to the families of those killed, saying he was deeply saddened by the tragedy and Pakistan remained committed to the ongoing operation in coordination with the embassies of Nepal, Oman, Britain and the United States.

Mountaineering accidents are common in northern Pakistan because of avalanches, falling ice and rock, extreme altitude and rapidly changing weather.

A Chinese climber died last year after being struck by falling rocks while descending K2, the world’s second-highest mountain