SKARDU: A search team has transported the bodies of renowned climber Nirmal Purja and three of his team members to the base camp of the mountain on which they were killed by an avalanche, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Wednesday.
The avalanche struck on July 30, cutting off contact with the 10-member international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja on Broad Peak, one of the world's highest mountains. His company confirmed there were no survivors.
"On behalf of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, it is announced with great sadness to confirm that, following an exceptionally challenging and technically demanding recovery operation on Broad Peak, the bodies of Nirmal Purja, Zhong Wang, Nima Sherpa, and Kilu Sherpa have been successfully recovered and have now arrived safely at Base Camp," the ACP posted on social media, referring to a Chinese mountaineer and two other Nepali climbers.
"While today marks an important milestone, three climbers remain missing," the club said.
"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," it added.
The remains of three other members of the team — an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali man — had already been flown off the mountain to the northern Pakistani city of Skardu.
The bodies of two Nepali nationals and a Pakistani citizen have not yet been recovered.
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