- Total bodies airlifted to Skardu rises to eight.
- Foreign climbers’ bodies to be repatriated to home countries.
- Avalanche hit 10-member int’l expedition team on July 30.
GILGIT: The bodies of five more mountaineers who lost their lives in the Broad Peak tragedy were brought to Skardu on Thursday, where a reception ceremony was held in their honour.
The ceremony was attended by Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly Speaker Imran Nadeem, civil and military officials, representatives of the Alpine Club of Pakistan and local representatives, who paid tribute to the deceased mountaineers.
Following the ceremony, the bodies were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for completion of the necessary legal formalities.
Officials said the bodies were placed in coffins draped with the national flags of their respective countries before being accorded an official farewell.
The bodies have now been prepared for repatriation to their respective home countries.
Celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, and nine others died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company confirmed earlier this month.
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.
“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 had posted on social media, referring to a Chinese mountaineer and two other Nepali climbers.
A search team on Wednesday transported the bodies of renowned climber Purja and three members of his team to the mountain’s base camp, where they were killed in an avalanche.
With the airlifting of five more bodies, the total number transported to Skardu has risen to eight.
The bodies of two climbers, including Pakistan’s Sohail Sakhi, have not yet been recovered.
— With additional input from APP.
