Nirmal Purja’s body recovered on Broad Peak after avalanche, Alpine Club says

The body of veteran Nepalese-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja was recovered on Sunday, three days after an avalanche swept him and nine other climbers away on Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan.The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said Purja, 43, was found at an altitude of about 5,700 metres. Five bodies have been recovered so far, while efforts are continuing to locate the remaining five climbers. Rescue Team Spots Three More Bodies"The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed,” the ACP said.The rescue team will bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp, the ACP said. Recovery operations are continuing amid difficult terrain.The world has lost a man who redefined what is possible. Nirmal Purja, or Nims, was a bright light of inspiration to countless people. In the Brigade of Gurkhas we are proud to call him one of our own. But his achievements belong to none of us, because it was he himself who… pic.twitter.com/v0J0teiGYm— Gurkha Brigade Association (@Gurkha_Brigade) August 1, 2026 Nirmal Purja Declared Dead After Body Recovery: From Bear Grylls To Sonam Kapoor, Celebrities Bid Emotional Farewell To 'Nims Dai' According to the ACP, steep slopes and the continuing avalanche risk have complicated rescue efforts. Adverse weather conditions have also prevented the use of helicopters.Purja and the nine other climbers, including five from Nepal and one each from Pakistan, Oman, the US and China, were swept away by the avalanche on Thursday.Broad Peak, in the Karakoram range near K2, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain and is regarded as one of the most challenging peaks to climb. Elite Exped Says All 10 Climbers DiedPurja’s expedition enterprise, Elite Exped, announced on Saturday that all 10 members of the group had died.Four bodies were recovered on Friday. Three were identified as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and American Mallory Geis, according to ACP President Major General Irfan Arshad.The bodies were airlifted to Skardu, a city in Gilgit-Baltistan. Mountaineer Nirmal Purja Dies In Avalanche On Pakistan's Broad Peak While Chasing Historic Eight-Thousander Record | VIDEO Purja Was Close to Completing Mountaineering MissionPurja had a distinguished mountaineering career. In 2019, he set a record by scaling all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres worldwide in just six months and six days.He was close to completing his mission of climbing all 14 eight-thousanders twice, with Broad Peak remaining to be climbed to complete the feat.

GILGIT: The bodies of celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja and three other mountaineers accompanying him on a summit of the Broad Peak mountain in Gilgit-Baltistan were recovered on Sunday — three days after all 10 members of the team were reported missing after an avalanche. On Saturday, his expedition organising company Elite Exped announced that all members of the team, which also included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, had died. The bodies of three climbers were recovered by then, as well as the remains believed to be of a climber from the United States, Naila Kiani of the ACP told Dawn on Sunday. Meanwhile, the ACP announced in a statement that Purja’s body had been found. “The Alpine Club of Pakistan shares this update with profound sorrow. The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed. The ground team will bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp. “Recovery efforts continue under extremely difficult terrain conditions. This information reflects preliminary field reports and remains subject to further confirmation. We urge the public to await official updates before sharing unverified details,” the statement said. View this post on Instagram In a subsequent post, the organisation said three other bodies, identified as China’s Wang Zhong and Nepal’s Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa, had also been recovered. The “four identified climbers are currently being brought down to Camp 1 (C1) and downwards by the ground rescue team,” the post said. View this post on Instagram It said ACP continued to monitor the ongoing recovery operation on Broad Peak, and rescuers had also “confirmed the presence of one additional body at a significantly higher elevation”. However, “due to the extremely hazardous terrain and prevailing conditions, it is unlikely that a recovery attempt will be made at this stage,” it added. Prior to the announcements, ACP General Secretary Ayaz Shigri told Dawn that the ground rescue team was heading towards the advanced base camp on the mountain to carry out the operation. He said that the mountain’s terrain, risk of avalanches and steep slopes were posing challenges in the way of rescue efforts, adding that helicopters could not be employed due to weather conditions. Later, the ACP said in a statement that an eight-member ground team, comprising climbers from Pakistan and Nepal, reached Camp 1 (C1) before 9am. “They will conduct a search and recovery mission on the slopes of Broad Peak under extremely difficult conditions,” the statement added. View this post on Instagram Purja’s expedition team included 10 members, including him. Six of them were Nepalese while there was one each from Pakistan, Oman, the US and China. The bodies of two climbers, Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung, were recovered on Friday, as well as the remains believed to be of American climber Sarah Mallory Geis. On Saturday, the body of Nepal’s Gyalu Sherpa was also recovered, ACP President Irfan Arshad told Dawn. Kiani told Dawn that on Saturday, five other bodies were also spotted on Broad Peak through aerial reconnaissance. Rising 8,051 metres, Broad Peak is the world’s 12th-highest mountain and a technically difficult climb. Seven years before setting out to summit it, Purja had climbed Annapurna, the 10th-highest mountain in the world, in 2019. He then began taking on other 8,000-metre peaks. He set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, completing the feat in six months in 2019. He became widely known internationally after the Netflix documentary chronicling his journey, ‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’, was released two years later. The 43-year-old climber also served in the British military with the Gurkhas and ​later in special forces. Elite climbers said Purja was a “charismatic, colourful” character. “If we talk about his ​legacy, it’s hard not to focus on how he was at the forefront of shaking up the high altitude guiding,” British climber Kenton Cool, who has climbed Everest 20 ​times, the most by a non-Sherpa, told Reuters on Saturday. In its announcement of the rescue team reaching Purja’s body, the ACP remembered him as a “man who made the impossible possible”. “He carried the Nepali flag to the highest points on Earth with pride, and his achievements brought new recognition to Nepal’s climbing community […] But his impact reached far beyond any one nation, more than the records themselves, he gave people everywhere a reason to believe that the impossible was simply something no one had dared attempt hard enough yet, inspiring dreamers and climbers across the globe to chase what once seemed unreachable.” The statement said, “His loss on the very mountains he so loved is a devastating blow to the global mountaineering family. But his legacy of pushing limits, of proving that the impossible is only impossible until someone dares to do it, will endure in every climber, everywhere, who follows the trail he blazed. “Our deepest condolences go out to his family, loved ones, and the entire climbing community during this immensely difficult time. Rest well, Nims Dai.” Additional input from Reuters

GILGIT: The Alpine Club (ACP) of Pakistan said on Sunday that a rescue team had found celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja’s body at approximately 5,700 metres on the Broad Peak mountain — three days after he and other members of his team were reported missing after an avalanche. On Saturday, his expedition organising company Elite Exped announced that all members of the expedition, which also included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, had died. The bodies of three climbers were recovered by then, as well as the remains believed to be of a climber from the United States, Naila Kiani of the ACP told Dawn on Sunday. Meanwhile, the ACP announced in a statement that Purja’s body had been found. “The Alpine Club of Pakistan shares this update with profound sorrow. The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed. The ground team will bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp. “Recovery efforts continue under extremely difficult terrain conditions. This information reflects preliminary field reports and remains subject to further confirmation. We urge the public to await official updates before sharing unverified details,” the statement said. View this post on Instagram More to follow

Renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja died along with other team members in a powerful avalanche on Broad Peak, his climbing company confirmed on Saturday. The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja. “It is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” Purja’s company Elite Expeditions said on social media. “We have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,” it added. The remains recovered so far — flown by helicopter to hospital for formal identification — included an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali man, the Gilgit-Baltistan government said in a statement released on Friday night. Purja, who served with Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, broke multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide. Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah offered his condolences over the “tragic” deaths of Purja and the other climbers, which he said “has shocked us”. “The physical journey of all the deceased climbers… has been interrupted, but the history of their courage, dedication, and contributions will always remain inspiring,” Shah said in a statement on social media. Police in GB said in a statement that high-altitude porters and rescue teams were carrying out a second day of the operation on Saturday after the search was paused due to difficult weather conditions a day earlier. Rescuers and army helicopters had been scouring the area and teams stayed at the base camp overnight, according to the GB government. “The rescue operation is being conducted under extremely challenging terrain and high-altitude weather conditions by the Pakistani army in coordination with local high-altitude climbers and rescuers,” it said. Powerful avalanche The avalanche struck while the mountaineers were on a mission to summit Broad Peak (8,047 metres, or 26,400 feet) on Thursday and while the team was ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres, according to regional authorities. The expedition comprised 10 people — including Purja, five Nepalis, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China. The team was last in contact on Thursday morning, the official statement said, with reports emerging that evening of the powerful avalanche. “Data from their tracking devices indicates that they were thrown hundreds of metres down the mountainside,” Naila Kiani, from Pakistan’s Alpine Club, told Le Monde newspaper. Fida Ali, a climber in the area who worked closely with Purja since 2023, told AFP their focus for the climbing season was summiting Broad Peak, but they had first tackled another mountain, G2, in harsh weather. Ali also joined the expedition to Broad Peak in its initial stages but returned early to accompany a Russian climber who was feeling the effects of exhaustion — narrowly avoiding the fatal avalanche. “I wanted to go with him (Purja) but couldn’t and came back with her. I was part of the team but survived,” he told AFP. Super peaks Purja had written on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote. He had climbed all 14 “eight-thousanders” (peaks above 8,000 metres) in six months and six days between April and October 2019 — then a record. Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000-metre-plus ascents. It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.

Renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja died along with other team members in a powerful avalanche on Broad Peak, his climbing company confirmed on Saturday. The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja. “It is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” Purja’s company Elite Expeditions said on social media. “We have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,” it added. The remains recovered so far — flown by helicopter to hospital for formal identification — included an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali man, the Gilgit-Baltistan government said in a statement released on Friday night. Purja, who served with Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, broke multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide. Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah offered his condolences over the “tragic” deaths of Purja and the other climbers, which he said “has shocked us”. “The physical journey of all the deceased climbers… has been interrupted, but the history of their courage, dedication, and contributions will always remain inspiring,” Shah said in a statement on social media. Police in GB said in a statement that high-altitude porters and rescue teams were carrying out a second day of the operation on Saturday after the search was paused due to difficult weather conditions a day earlier. Rescuers and army helicopters had been scouring the area and teams stayed at the base camp overnight, according to the GB government. “The rescue operation is being conducted under extremely challenging terrain and high-altitude weather conditions by the Pakistani army in coordination with local high-altitude climbers and rescuers,” it said. Powerful avalanche The avalanche struck while the mountaineers were on a mission to summit Broad Peak (8,047 metres, or 26,400 feet) on Thursday and while the team was ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres, according to regional authorities. The expedition comprised 10 people — including Purja, five Nepalis, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China. The team was last in contact on Thursday morning, the official statement said, with reports emerging that evening of the powerful avalanche. “Data from their tracking devices indicates that they were thrown hundreds of metres down the mountainside,” Naila Kiani, from Pakistan’s Alpine Club, told Le Monde newspaper. Fida Ali, a climber in the area who worked closely with Purja since 2023, told AFP their focus for the climbing season was summiting Broad Peak, but they had first tackled another mountain, G2, in harsh weather. Ali also joined the expedition to Broad Peak in its initial stages but returned early to accompany a Russian climber who was feeling the effects of exhaustion — narrowly avoiding the fatal avalanche. “I wanted to go with him (Purja) but couldn’t and came back with her. I was part of the team but survived,” he told AFP. Super peaks Purja had written on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 “super peaks” twice without oxygen. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote. He had climbed all 14 “eight-thousanders” (peaks above 8,000 metres) in six months and six days between April and October 2019 — then a record. Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000-metre-plus ascents. It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.

GILGIT: A search and rescue operation to locate seven climbers part of a 10-member team that went missing after an avalanche at Broad Peak earlier this week resumed on Saturday morning. The operation was suspended late Friday due to adverse weather conditions in the region. The bodies of three climbers — Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and American Mallory Geis — were found on Friday and airlifted to Skardu. The missing climbers include five from Nepal, including renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa. Pakistan’s climber Sohail Sakhi and China’s Wang Zhong are also among those missing. According to the local administration, a three-member civil rescue team, led by renowned mountaineer Sarbaz Khan, was taking part in the search and rescue operation. The team started their ground mission again on Saturday morning to locate the seven missing climbers. Additionally, Nepali climbers present at the basecamp with other expedition teams were also taking part in the operation. Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) President Major General Irfan Arshad told Dawn that the search operation was underway at Broad Peak. He said Pakistan Army helicopters were also heading towards the area where the climbers went missing. The club’s general secretary, Ayaz Shigri, also told Dawn that the rescue operation was being carried out with support of army helicopters. He said that during the operation the rescue teams had identified the presence of more climbers at an altitude of 6,000m through drone footage. “Mountain terrain, adverse weather, snow avalanche risks and snowfall create difficulties for rescue team members,” he said. According to Nepali media, renowned Nepali mountaineer Mingma David Sherpa arrived in Pakistan to assist the search and rescue operation. David travelled from Nepal to join the ongoing efforts to locate Purja and the other missing climbers. The avalanche struck while the mountaineers were on a mission to summit Broad Peak (8,047 metres, 26,400 feet) on Thursday while the team was ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres, according to regional authorities. The team was last in contact on Thursday morning, an official statement said, with reports emerging that evening of the powerful avalanche. “Data from their tracking devices indicates that they were thrown hundreds of metres down the mountainside,” Naila Kiani, from Pakistan’s Alpine Club, told Le Monde newspaper. Additional input from AFP