Pakistan rescuers find 4 bodies of the 10 climbers missing on Broad Peak after an avalanche

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Rescuers searching for 10 climbers missing after an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak located four bodies Friday and were continuing to search for the other six, officials said.

Efforts were underway to retrieve the bodies of the four climbers despite the harsh weather, according to the senior government officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, did not immediately identify whose bodies were found.

Bad weather continued to hamper the rescue effort Friday, according to a statement from the regional Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chief Minister Amjad Hussain.

The climbers lost contact with their base camp after an avalanche struck Broad Peak while they were attempting to scale the mountain, said Karrar Haidri, vice president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. “The team has been out of communication since Thursday,” said Haidri, adding that army helicopters were part of the search-and-rescue operation.

According to the Alpine Club, the expedition included five Nepali climbers, Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi from Hunza, Omani climber Nathira, American climber Mallory Geis, a Chinese climber identified only as Wang, and another foreign climber.

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.

Moving Mountains, a travel company based in Pakistan, announced late last month that the expedition team was on its way to the small town of Askole and wished them a safe journey climbing Broad Peak. The company said this was Geis’ first try at an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan, while it was expected to be Sakhi’s final one.

Sakhi is a guide for the company, as well as a geographer and high-altitude photographer, and has climbed some of the world’s major peaks, according to Moving Mountains’ website.

Geis, 39, lives in San Antonio and is an avid traveler who loves being outdoors, according to her Instagram page. She announced on social media earlier this year that she was closing her Pilates studio to take “a giant leap of faith into the unknown to see where life goes. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be lots of helmets, harnesses, and crampons involved.”

Broad Peak, at 8,047 meters (26,401 feet), is the world’s 12th-highest mountain. It lies in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, home to five of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 meters, attracting climbers from around the globe.

Accidents are common during climbing expeditions in northern Pakistan because of avalanches and rapidly changing weather.

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Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan. AP journalist Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

Munir Ahmed And Riaz Khan, The Associated Press