[Source: Reuters]
Pakistani search crews on Friday recovered the bodies of three of a group of at least 10 mountaineers who were caught in an avalanche on Broad Peak a day earlier, Pakistani officials said.
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Drone footage showed signs of several more bodies in the search area, said the regional government in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan, where Broad Peak is located.
Among those missing is Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, 43, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, a feat chronicled in the 2021 Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.”
The three bodies recovered are those of U.S. citizen Sarah Mallory, Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, and Nepalese citizen Pur Bahadur Gurung, said Gilgit-Baltistan officials.
The climbers were swept away in an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414-foot) peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain, around midday on Thursday.
Regional police said the rescue operation was suspended on Friday night because of weather conditions.
“We hope to continue our operations, both aerial search and the ground rescue, till the time we find the survivors or the dead bodies,” said Irfan Arshad, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Two Pakistan Army Aviation rescue helicopters have been dispatched, said the ACP.
“We remain hopeful for the safe recovery of the missing climbers,” said the club earlier on Friday. “The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche.”
The area in which the search is taking place is “remote and difficult”, said Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the tourism department in Gilgit-Baltistan.
