Ten members of an international expedition led by the world-renowned climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja are missing after an avalanche on the 8,047-metre Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range.
Contact with them was lost after the avalanche struck around midday on Thursday, the Alpine Club Pakistan (ACP) said, adding that helicopters and ground rescue teams were on standby to search for the missing.
The ACP said the missing team included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, from Hunza, five Nepali climbers, one American, one Omani, one Chinese and one more foreign climber, led by the Nepali-origin mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja.
ACP member Karrar Haidari said the situation was being closely monitored and that a helicopter and ground rescue would begin once the weather improved. Based on GPS data, the climbers are believed to have been swept about a kilometre down the mountain and are likely trapped under the snow.
The team had set out on Wednesday to summit Broad Peak, aiming to reach the top by Friday. ACP general secretary Ayaz Shigri said the avalanche struck as the team was heading toward Camp 3. In a statement, the Alpine Club said it hoped for the climbers’ safe rescue and expressed solidarity with their families and the international climbing community.
On the same day, with favourable weather in Pakistan’s northern peaks, more than 200 foreign climbers advanced toward the high camps on K2, Gasherbrum-I and Broad Peak. Early on Thursday, an eight-member international team summited the 8,035-metre Gasherbrum-II, reaching the top between 4:50 and 5:05 a.m., Seven Summit Treks said.
The Gasherbrum-II team included British-Pakistani climber Nadia Azad, Brazil’s Roman Andrade Romanchini and six Nepali Sherpas — Lakpa, Lakpa Temba, Pasang Tenje, Tashi, Nigma Dorchi and Dawasange. Pasang Tenje climbed without supplemental oxygen. Lakpa Temba completed his 14th and final 8,000-metre peak, while it was Nadia Azad’s fifth 8,000er, after Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and Manaslu. The team had completed acclimatization and waited at base camp after July 21 for good weather, then began its final summit push from Camp 3 on Wednesday.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report