Local rescue volunteers locate American mountaineer weeks after avalanche killed members of international expedition on Pakistan’s Broad Peak

GILGIT: Rescue volunteers recovered the body of US climber Sarah Mallory Geis from Broad Peak on Friday, weeks after a deadly avalanche struck an international mountaineering expedition.

The avalanche hit the mountain on July 30 and severed contact with a 10-member expedition led by renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja. His company later confirmed that no expedition member had survived.

Subsequent recovery missions located eight bodies, including that of Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi. However, rescuers had continued searching for Geis and Nepalese climber Nawang Thindu Sherpa.

Volunteers Locate Body on Broad Peak

Alpine Club of Pakistan President retired Major General Irfan Arshad Khan confirmed that local rescue volunteers discovered Geis’s body on Broad Peak’s slopes.

ACP General Secretary Ayaz Shigri said local porters accompanying a trekking group voluntarily joined the search and identified the body as Geis.

Authorities were shifting the body toward base camp. Subsequently, Pakistan Army helicopters are expected to airlift it to Skardu.

Meanwhile, rescuers will continue searching for Nawang Thindu Sherpa, the remaining missing member of the expedition.

Separate Recovery Mission Launched on Spantik

Separately, authorities dispatched local climbers to Spantik to recover the body of Pakistani mountaineer Dr Asma Mushtaq, who died after developing a serious medical emergency while descending the mountain.

According to the Alpine Club, Mushtaq suffered a high-altitude medical emergency at approximately 6,400 metres.

Her family has arrived in Skardu, while authorities plan to airlift her body after rescuers bring it to base camp.

Originally from Lahore, Mushtaq worked in the United Kingdom as an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor. She was also an enthusiastic mountaineer, traveller and vlogger.

Furthermore, Mushtaq had completed a winter ascent of the 4,076-metre Musa ka Musallah and participated in several other climbing expeditions.