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Rescuers locate 'eight bodies' after 10 mountaineers go missing on Broad Peak

Search and rescue operations underway for remaining two missing climbers, say sources

July 31, 2026
Trekkers move with mules towards the Concordia camping site in front of Broad Peak (left) and Gasherbrum IV (right) at Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram range in Pakistan. — AFP/File
Trekkers move with mules towards the Concordia camping site in front of Broad Peak (left) and Gasherbrum IV (right) at Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram range in Pakistan. — AFP/File

Rescuers located the bodies of four more climbers on Friday following an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan's Karakoram mountain range, where at least 10 mountaineers went missing the previous day.

Search and rescue operations were underway for the remaining two missing mountaineers, sources at the Broad Peak base camp said.

The expedition included five Nepali climbers led by Dai, Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, Omani mountaineer Nadhira, American climber Mallory Geis, Chinese climber Mr Wang and another foreign climber.

The climbers are believed to have been swept away by an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414-foot) peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain, around midday on Thursday.

Search and rescue operations were continuing on Friday, Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the tourism department in Gilgit-Baltistan, told Reuters.

The search was focusing on a "remote and difficult area", said Hussain.

Two Pakistan Army Aviation rescue helicopters have been dispatched, said the ACP.

"We remain hopeful for the safe recovery of the missing climbers," said the club. "The entire team has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche."

Trekking company Seven Summit Treks (SST) had three sherpa guides among the missing climbers, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, a board director, told Reuters.

Chhang said team members' last tracked location at the time of the suspected avalanche was at 6,600 metres (21,653 ft) and "fell down straight from there".

Broad Peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain at 8,047 metres, is located in the Karakoram range of northern Pakistan and is among the country's most challenging peaks for high-altitude expeditions.

Purja first climbed Annapurna, the 10th-highest mountain in the world, on April 23, 2019, and then began taking on other "8,000ers."

He became more widely known internationally after a Netflix documentary chronicling his journey was released two years later.

Of the world's 14 highest peaks, eight are in Nepal, five in Pakistan and one in Tibet.

Climbing experts say barely over three dozen mountaineers have climbed all 14 peaks to date.


— With additional input from Reuters