Renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja and nine fellow climbers who were buried in an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak have been confirmed dead, his expedition company said on Saturday as recovery efforts continued.
Elite Exped, Purja's expedition company, announced that all 10 members of the team had lost their lives in the avalanche that struck on Thursday, describing the tragedy as a devastating loss for the global climbing community.
"The world has lost one of mountaineering's greatest climbers," the company said in a statement, expressing condolences to the families of all those who died.
Rescue teams had recovered four bodies by Friday, with three of them brought down despite severe weather that disrupted helicopter operations. Military-supported search teams resumed efforts on Saturday to recover the remaining victims.
Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said the deaths of climbers from different countries represented a profound loss to the international mountaineering community.
He praised military personnel, civilian rescuers and Sherpas involved in the operation, saying the Himalayas and Karakoram continue to inspire adventurers while reminding them of the significant dangers posed by high-altitude expeditions.
Earlier on Saturday, local police official Tahir Khan said the remains of Omani climber Nathira Ahmed were being flown to Islamabad, while the bodies of American climber Mallory Geis and Nepali climber Bahadur Gurung remained at a hospital in Skardu, the main city in Gilgit-Baltistan.
According to China's Xinhua News Agency, citing the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, a Chinese climber was also among those killed in the avalanche.
The expedition was led by Purja, also known as Nims Dai, a Nepal-born former British Army soldier who gained worldwide recognition after climbing the world's 14 peaks above 8,000 metres in a record 189 days in 2019. His achievement was featured in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, although the record was surpassed in 2023.
Elite Exped described Purja as an inspirational leader whose determination, humility and belief in human potential motivated climbers around the world.
In a statement, Geis' family remembered her as "a bright light" who was deeply loved by family and friends.
The expedition marked Geis' first attempt to climb an 8,000-metre peak in Pakistan. For Pakistani guide Sakhi, who worked with the travel company Moving Mountains, it was expected to be his final expedition. Besides being an experienced mountaineer, he was also known as a geographer and high-altitude photographer.
Fatal accidents are not uncommon in Pakistan's northern mountain ranges, where climbers face hazards including avalanches, falling ice and rocks, extreme altitude and rapidly changing weather conditions.