Omani legend, US novice: Pakistan recovers bodies from Broad Peak

Rescuers are still looking for other missing climbers swept away in an avalanche on the world’s 12th largest peak.Rescuers continue the search for six climbers still missing after an avalanche hit Pakistan’s Broad Peak, as officials identified one of the four recovered bodies as Nadhira Al Harthy, the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest.Pakistani authorities recovered three of the bodies on Friday in harsh weather that hampered flights by search and rescue helicopters, officials said, and identified them as Nepalese climber Pur Bahadur Gurung and American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, as well as Harthy.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Nepal in a bind as US-China drone war reaches Everestlist 2 of 4Nepali Mount Everest guide found alive after being missing for six dayslist 3 of 4Everest record holder warns of Nepal danger as two Indian mountaineers dielist 4 of 4Climber carries kite with Palestinian children’s dreams to Everest summitend of listThe officials did not immediately identify the fourth body that was found.The expedition comprised five Nepali climbers, the Omani and American climbers, Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, a Chinese climber identified only as Wang, and one other foreign climber, according to the Pakistan" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="175240" data-entity-type="organization">Alpine Club of Pakistan.The expedition leader was the renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, a Nepal-born former soldier in the British army widely known as Nims Dai. He climbed the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, an achievement featured in the Netflix documentary, 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible. His record was surpassed in 2023.A file photo of Nirmal Purja, one of the team members of the all-Nepalese mountaineering team that became the first to scale Mount K2 in winter, gestures as the team arrives at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on January 26, 2021 [Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo]The climbers were swept away in an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414ft) peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain, about midday on Thursday. The area in which the search is taking place is “remote and difficult”, said Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the tourism department in Gilgit-Baltistan.