Search resumes for missing climbers from Pakistan avalanche

Pakistan rescue teams resumed a high-altitude search Saturday for seven climbers missing after a powerful avalanche struck Broad Peak, one of the world's highest peaks.

Rescuers have recovered the remains of three mountaineers so far from the ten-member international expedition led by British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja.

What is the latest on the search for the missing Broad Peak climbers?

Police in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region said high-altitude porters and rescue teams began a second day of the operation Saturday after weather conditions forced a pause on Friday. Rescuers have spotted a few more bodies through drone footage, though recovery remains ongoing.

The avalanche struck Thursday, cutting off contact with the expedition. Purja is not among the remains recovered so far, and the operation continues under extremely challenging terrain and high-altitude weather conditions, carried out by the Pakistani army alongside local high-altitude climbers and rescuers.

Those recovered so far, an American woman, an Omani woman, and a Nepali man, were flown by helicopter to hospital for formal identification, the regional government said in a statement Friday night. Rescuers and military helicopters have been scouring the area, with teams staying at base camp overnight.

How did the avalanche on Broad Peak happen?

The avalanche struck Thursday while the mountaineers were attempting to summit Broad Peak, at 8,047 meters the world's twelfth highest mountain, as the team ascended at around 6,600 meters. The expedition included ten people: Purja, five Nepalis, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China.

The team was last in contact Thursday morning, with reports of the avalanche emerging that evening, according to the official statement. Naila Kiani of Pakistan's Alpine Club told Le Monde that tracking device data indicates the climbers were thrown hundreds of meters down the mountainside.

Who is Nirmal Purja and why is he significant to this climb?

Purja, 43, wrote on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 "super peaks" twice without oxygen, adding of Broad Peak: "I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down." He served with Britain's Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines and has broken multiple climbing records as a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.

He climbed all 14 "eight-thousanders," peaks above 8,000 meters, in six months and six days between April and October 2019, a record at the time. Broad Peak sits in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan and is considered one of the toughest and most technical climbs among all 8,000-metre-plus ascents. An Austrian team first summited it in 1957.