ISLAMABAD – Search teams on Broad Peak have found the remains of celebrated British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja and three fellow climbers after a deadly avalanche struck a 10-member international expedition on one of the planet’s tallest mountains, officials said Sunday.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan named the climbers recovered by the ground team as Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa. In a statement, the organization thanked the military personnel, civilian rescue workers and volunteers who have been carrying out the difficult recovery operation in extreme high-altitude conditions.
Earlier, on Friday, rescue crews had spotted four other bodies on the mountain, but worsening weather forced helicopters to stand down before all could be retrieved. Three were brought down and identified as Omani climber Nathira Ahmed, American mountaineer Mallory Geis and Nepalese climber Bahadur Gurung.
Local authorities said military-supported rescue teams returned to the mountain Sunday to continue looking for the two climbers still unaccounted for, as separate efforts remained underway to recover the bodies of Purja and the three others located by the ground search party.
Purja’s expedition company said Saturday that the mountaineering world had lost one of its most influential figures. It remembered him as “a leader who inspired millions through his courage, humility and unwavering belief that human potential is far greater than we often imagine.”
Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, called the Broad Peak avalanche “an immeasurable loss to the global mountaineering fraternity.” He also honored the Sherpas, civilian teams and military rescuers who risked difficult terrain and severe weather during the search mission.
The expedition was headed by Purja, the Nepal-born former British Army soldier known across the climbing community as Nims Dai.
Purja became a global name in 2019 after summiting the world’s 14 highest mountains in just 189 days, a record-setting feat later chronicled in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” That speed record was surpassed in 2023.
A statement from Geis’ family said, “Mallory was a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends. She will be profoundly missed.”
The expedition was expected to be the last one for Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi, who worked with Moving Mountains, a Pakistan-based adventure travel company. Sakhi also was a geographer and high-altitude photographer who had climbed some of the world’s major peaks, according to the company’s website. His body remained missing on Sunday.
Accidents are common on climbing expeditions in northern Pakistan because of avalanches, falling ice and rock, extreme altitude and rapidly changing weather.
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Riaz Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.
