TEAMS searched on foot for the remains of 10 climbers killed in an avalanche on the world’s 12th-highest mountain as poor weather kept helicopters out of the air, authorities said.
Helicopters were on standby but unable to fly by noon for the ongoing search and recovery operation on Broad Peak, the regional government said in a statement yesterday.
The climbers from Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China, Britain and the United States were swept away by the avalanche last Thursday in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which the Alpine Club of Pakistan called one of the country’s deadliest mountaineering disasters.
Ground teams located the remains of eight climbers and at least three bodies were brought down the mountain on Saturday, officials said.
Nirmal Purja, a Nepal-born former British Army soldier widely known as Nims Dai, was among the climbers killed in the avalanche while attempting to scale the peak.
His expedition company said the world had lost one of mountaineering’s greats.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday expressed condolences to the families of those killed, saying he was deeply saddened by the tragedy.
Dar also offered condolences to the family of Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi, saying his courage and passion for the mountains would be remembered with pride.
He praised the “tireless efforts of our rescue and recovery teams” and said Pakistan remained committed to the ongoing search and recovery operation in close coordination with the Nepal, Oman, UK and US embassies. — AP
