SKARDU (Pakistan), Aug 2 — Rescuers have recovered the body of renowned climber Nirmal Purja, who was killed along with nine team members in a powerful avalanche in northern Pakistan this week, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said today.

“The ground rescue team has reached Nims Dai (Purja) at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak — a mountain he loved, and a mountain that has now taken him from us,” the club posted on social media.

The club’s general secretary Ayaz Shigri later confirmed to AFP that Purja’s body and those of three others had been recovered in the high-altitude rescue operation that has been made more difficult by bad weather.

The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the 10-member international expedition led by Purja, a 43-year-old British-Nepali climber, on Broad Peak.

His expedition company confirmed yesterday that no team members had survived.

Regional authorities said the remains of three climbers — an Omani woman, a Nepali man and an American woman — had been recovered and flown to the city of Skardu on Friday.

A Chinese national and several other Nepali citizens had also been on the expedition, according to the Alpine Club.

The avalanche has sparked an outpouring of shock and grief in the mountaineering community, especially in Nepal, and leaders including Britain’s Prince William have expressed condolences to the families of the climbers. — AFP