Source : Perth Now news
Pakistani military helicopters have airlifted the bodies of five climbers from the snow-covered slopes of Broad Peak nearly a week after an avalanche swept away a 10-member international expedition.
Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said the remains of the climbers killed in the July 31 avalanche were being transferred to a military hospital in the northern city of Skardu.
Three bodies were brought off the mountain on August 1.
Thursday’s airlift raised the number of recovered bodies to eight, including renowned British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja.
Two climbers remain missing and the search is ongoing following what the Alpine Club described as one of Pakistan’s deadliest mountaineering disasters.
The bodies of Purja, Chinese climber Zhong Wang, Nepali climbers Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa and Kilu Sherpa were flown from the base camp of Broad Peak to the air base in Skardu before being transported to the hospital, regional authorities said.
The international team of climbers came from Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China, Britain and the United States.
The bodies will be flown to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad after co-ordination with the embassies of the climbers’ home countries, officials said.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar this week expressed condolences to the victims’ families, saying he was deeply saddened by the tragedy and that Pakistan remained committed to the recovery operation in co-ordination with the Nepal, Oman, UK and US embassies.
Mountaineering accidents are common in northern Pakistan, where climbers face hazards including avalanches, falling ice and rock, extreme altitude and rapidly changing weather.
