Nirmal Purja Missing After Deadly Broad Peak Avalanche
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One of the world’s most famous mountaineers is missing after a devastating avalanche struck climbers on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. Nepal-born British climber Nirmal Purja disappeared alongside nine other mountaineers on Thursday while attempting to climb the 8,047-meter mountain in the Karakoram range.
Four bodies had been recovered by Friday, Pakistani authorities said. Rescuers were forced to suspend the operation because of poor weather and dangerous conditions, with the search expected to resume Saturday.
Four Bodies Recovered on Broad Peak
Among the confirmed victims was Nadhira Alharthy, one of Oman’s most accomplished mountaineers. Nepalese climber Pur Bahadur Gurung, a member of a separate team led by Purja, was also found dead.
The identities of the other two recovered climbers had not initially been made public.
The missing group includes climbers and guides from Nepal, Pakistan, Oman, the United States and China. American mountaineer Mallory Geis of Texas was climbing with prominent Pakistani alpinist Sohail Sakhi. Chinese climber Wang Zhong and Nepalese guide Kili Pema Sherpa were also reportedly on the mountain.
The avalanche apparently struck around 6,600 meters, between the mountain’s upper camps, as several separate teams were moving toward the summit. Military helicopters, drones and ground teams have been deployed, but the remote terrain and unstable weather have severely complicated the operation.
Nirmal Purja Missing but Tracker Shows Movement
There was a faint sign of hope Friday: Purja’s GPS tracker reportedly registered movement after the avalanche.
A tracker belonging to Sakhi was also said to have remained active. However, officials cautioned that the signals did not confirm that either climber was alive or establish their exact condition.
Elite Exped, Purja’s guiding company, said it was supporting rescue efforts and working to determine what had happened.
“We ask for patience while verified information becomes available,” Purja’s equipment company said in a statement supplied to news organizations.
‘14 Peaks’ Made Purja a Global Star
Purja became an international celebrity after climbing all 14 of the world’s mountains higher than 8,000 meters in 2019.
He completed the extraordinary project in just six months and six days—not one year—shattering the previous record. His achievement became the subject of the hit Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.
The former British Special Forces soldier later founded Elite Exped and began leading commercial expeditions on the world’s highest mountains.
At the time of the Broad Peak disaster, Purja was pursuing another ambitious mountaineering project. He had recently completed his 57th successful ascent of an 8,000-meter mountain and was seeking to climb all 14 peaks for a third time.
Broad Peak is the world’s 12th-highest mountain. Although it is sometimes regarded as less technically difficult than neighboring K2, its extreme altitude, exposed ridges, unpredictable weather and avalanche danger make every ascent potentially deadly.
As darkness fell Friday, six climbers remained unaccounted for. Their families and the global mountaineering community were left waiting for the weather to clear—and for rescuers to return to the mountain.
