Nirmal Purja among 10 hit by Broad Peak avalanche; 4 bodies found

World-renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja is among 10 climbers caught in a deadly avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak on July 30, 2026. Rescuers recovered four bodies by July 31, and the others remain missing.

Purja, a former British Special Forces member, gained fame in 2019 for climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in just over six months. He later led the first winter ascent of K2.

The avalanche struck around midday local time between camp two and camp three on the mountain’s west ridge at an elevation of 6,579 meters, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

GPS trackers showed a rapid loss of altitude. US climber Mallory Geis’s device recorded a descent of 543 meters, while Nadhira Alharthy’s tracker dropped 1,651 meters.

Two of the dead were identified as Pur Bahadur Gurung, a Nepali citizen, and Alharthy, the first Omani woman to climb Everest.

Purja’s tracker initially indicated he was swept downhill but later shifted location, prompting hope he might be alive. His condition remains unknown.

Elite Exped, Purja’s company, led the expedition. The team comprised five Nepali climbers, along with nationals from the US, Pakistan, Oman, and China, plus another foreign climber, according to Karrar Haidri, vice-president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

Among the missing are US climber Mallory Geis, Chinese national Wang Zhong, and several Pakistani and Nepali high-altitude workers.

Purja was attempting to become the first person to climb all 14 peaks twice without supplemental oxygen. Before the climb, he wrote on social media asking Broad Peak for “safe passage.”

Police in Gilgit-Baltistan confirmed the recovery of four bodies and said the condition of the remaining climbers was being verified. The Alpine Club said helicopters and drones were being mobilized, subject to weather.

Mingma Gyabu Sherpa, Purja’s business partner and a member of Nepal’s parliament, said a search team had set out overland to investigate a tracker location near the mountain’s base. He cautioned there was no indication of Purja’s condition.

The Alpine Club expressed solidarity with the families and the international mountaineering community, praying for the safety and successful rescue of all climbers.