Body of Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi recovered from Broad Peak

The body of Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, who had been missing since an avalanche struck Broad Peak on July 30, was recovered during a search operation, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Thursday. The avalanche struck a 10-member international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja as the team ascended from Camp 2 to Camp 3 on Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain. All 10 climbers from Nepal, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, Oman and Pakistan were reported missing after contact with the expedition was lost. According to the ACP, Sakhi’s body was found by a group of local volunteers from Shigar who had been searching the area on their own initiative. The remains were identified as those of Sakhi, a Pakistani climber from Hunza.         View this post on Instagram                       The body was first spotted by Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Bashir and Abuzar, all from Tissar in Shigar. They alerted other volunteers and, with their assistance, carried the body from Camp 1 to the base camp, the ACP said in an Instagram post. “If weather permits, the body will be transported by helicopter today,” the club said. Sakhi was among 10 climbers reported missing after the avalanche struck the 8,047-metre peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram range. With Sakhi’s body recovered, eight of the 10 missing climbers have now been found, while two remain unaccounted for. Search efforts are continuing despite difficult weather conditions, with the Pakistan Army, local rescuers and other relevant authorities taking part in the operation. Read: Bodies of Nirmal Purja team recovered from Broad Peak On August 6, the bodies of five international climbers, including renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, were flown to Skardu by a Pakistan Army helicopter. A week earlier, the ACP had announced that the bodies of Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kilu Sherpa had been successfully recovered after what it described as an "exceptionally challenging and technically demanding recovery operation" and transported to the mountain's base camp. The remains of three other members of the expedition — an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali climber — had already been airlifted from the mountain to Skardu earlier this month. The tragedy sent shockwaves through the global mountaineering community. The president of Nepal's National Mountain Guide Association, Tul Singh Gurung, said the climbing world had "lost a generation of accomplished mountaineers". Broad Peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain at 8,051 metres, is located in Pakistan's Karakoram range and is widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding of the world's 8,000-metre peaks. It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian expedition.

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