Sawt Falasteen - Bodies of four climbers recovered near northern Pakistan avalanche site, police say

A spokesperson for police in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region said search-and-rescue teams had reached the location the avalanche had struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition that had been in the area.

"Preliminary reports indicate that four (04) bodies have so far been recovered," Gilgit-Baltistan region's police spokesperson said in a statement on Facebook, adding that the condition of the remaining climbers was still being verified.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan said the expedition comprised 10 people -- including five Nepalese, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China. Police did not mention an American citizen and said two British nationals -- a man and a woman -- were in the missing team.

"The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) has received deeply concerning reports of an avalanche that struck a team of climbers on Broad Peak (8,047m) in the Karakoram mountain range," the club said late on Thursday.

"The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche," it said.

Purja, 43, who served with Britain's Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, has broken multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.

He climbed all 14 "eight-thousanders" (peaks above 8,000 metres, or 26,000 feet) in six months and six days between April and October 2019 -- then a record.

In 2021, Purja completed the first winter ascent of K2 along with a team of nine other Nepali climbers.

- 'Ask for nothing' -

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said they were "urgently working to verify and understand the situation" and said Beijing was willing to provide assistance to Pakistan.

Rescuers equipped with geolocation devices have been sent to search for the missing climbers, the Alpine Club said.

"Through Global Positioning System (GPS), we have already traced the locations of four climbers," Ayaz Shigri, general secretary of the Alpine Club, told AFP in the mountainous northern city of Skardu.

"For now, we can't say anything about what exactly has happened," he said.

Military helicopters were reinforcing efforts on the ground to find the climbers and boost the operation in the challenging high-altitude environment, according to the club.

Purja had written on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 "super peaks" twice without oxygen.

"Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down," he wrote.

"I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it's 100%. Always has been. Always will be.

"My purpose has never been about me. It's about what I represent. It's about showing YOU that your own mountains -- whatever they are -- are climbable."

Broad Peak is the world's 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000 metre-plus ascents.

It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.

X.Habash--SF-PST