Skardu (GNP): The body of Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi has been recovered from Broad Peak and shifted to the mountain’s base camp, the Alpine Club of Pakistan announced on Thursday. Sakhi was among the ten members of an international expedition that went missing following a deadly avalanche on the mountain, one of the world’s highest peaks.
The avalanche struck on July 30, severing contact with the expedition, which was led by world-renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja. Purja’s company later confirmed that none of the climbers had survived the disaster. In the aftermath, search teams managed to recover the bodies of seven climbers, but the search for Sakhi, American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, and Nepalese climber Nawang Thindu Sherpa was suspended last week due to the heightened risk of fresh avalanches in the area.
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According to Alpine Club of Pakistan member Naila Kiani, Sakhi’s body was located by a team of local volunteers from Shigar who had been searching the area on their own initiative. She said the volunteers, identified as Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Bashir and Abuzar, first spotted the remains and alerted others nearby. Together with additional volunteers, they carried the body down from Camp 1 to the base camp, an effort that reflected the determination of local communities to support the recovery process despite the absence of official search operations.
Alpine Club of Pakistan General Secretary Ayaz Shigri confirmed that the body had been moved to Broad Peak Base Camp and would be airlifted to Skardu by Pakistan Army helicopters, weather permitting. He noted that the bodies of two remaining climbers had not yet been recovered, and that rescue efforts for them would resume once weather conditions improved and the area was confirmed safe for further search operations. Shigri added that the local volunteers had located Sakhi’s body at an altitude of 5,600 metres, underscoring the difficulty and danger involved in the recovery effort.
