Mountaineer Nirmal Purja’s body recovered from Broad Peak three days after avalanche

Rescuers recovered the body of renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja on Sunday, three days after an avalanche killed him and nine other climbers on Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan. Broad Peak is the world’s 12th-highest and considered one of the most challenging to climb.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan said Purja’s body was found about 5,700 m up the mountain, where three further bodies have been sighted, but their identities have not been confirmed.

The 43-year-old’s death was announced on Saturday by his company, Elite Expeditions, which said he was among the 10 people killed in the avalanche.

The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by Purja.

“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.

Purja was leading the expedition with five climbers from Nepal, one Pakistani, one Omani, one American, and one Chinese.

‘Rescue team transporting four bodies’

A rescue team was transporting four bodies, including those of Purja, two other Nepali nationals, and a Chinese citizen, down from the mountain, said the club’s general secretary, Ayaz Shigri.

“Rescuers have also confirmed the presence of one additional body at a significantly higher elevation,” he added in a statement.

The risk of avalanches and steep slopes is posing challenges to the rescue efforts, and helicopters cannot be deployed owing to rough weather conditions.

“Due to the extremely hazardous terrain and prevailing conditions, it is unlikely that a recovery attempt will be made at this stage,” he added.

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.

The three were identified as Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung, and American Mallory Geis.

The avalanche sparked an outpouring of shock in the mountaineering community.

Purja broke multiple climbing records

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.

In 2019, Purja had climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres around the world in six months and six days, setting a new record.

“Nims (Purja) served with distinction in the British Armed Forces before becoming one of the world’s greatest mountaineers, putting Nepalese climbers on the map,” Prince William posted on X.

Purja had written on X on Monday 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.

Rescuers have been scouring the difficult, high-altitude mountainside for days by air and ground after contact was lost with the team on Thursday.

“My loving brothers... We will take you back home to see (your) families,” Mingma G Sherpa, a mountaineer involved in rescue, posted on Saturday.

Messages of grief poured out after the confirmation that none of the team had survived.

Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000-metre-plus ascents. It was first summited by an Austrian team in 1957.