KATHMANDU: The body of Nepali mountaineer Pur Bahadur Gurung, popularly known as “Yukta,” has been brought back to Nepal following his death in an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak.
Gurung, who was killed in the avalanche on July 29, arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening aboard a Qatar Airways flight.
Following the tragedy, record-holding mountaineer Nirmal Purja’s business partner and House of Representatives member Mingma David Sherpa traveled to Pakistan to coordinate the recovery operation. He returned to Nepal accompanying Gurung’s body.
A resident of Laprak in Gorkha district, Gurung’s body will be kept at the Nepal Mountaineering Association Secretariat in Naxal for the public to pay their final respects. His funeral is scheduled to take place at Swayambhu at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Gurung served as vice chair of the Gandaki Province Committee of the Nepal Mountaineering Association and was also a member of the Manang Mountaineering School Committee.
The Broad Peak avalanche claimed the lives of 10 climbers, including six Nepalis: Nirmal Purja, Pur Bahadur Gurung “Yukta,” Kili Pemba Sherpa “Kilu,” Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa.
According to the report, Purja’s family has decided to hold his funeral in the United Kingdom, where they are based. The bodies of the remaining Nepali climbers are expected to be repatriated after legal and administrative procedures in Pakistan are completed.
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