A devastating avalanche has left 10 climbers, including world-famous Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, unaccounted for on Pakistan’s 8,047-meter Broad Peak in the Karakoram mountain range, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) confirmed in a statement released late Thursday. No contact has been established with the entire climbing team since the snow slide occurred, leaving mountaineering communities around the world on edge.
The expedition team caught in the avalanche is made up of climbers from six nations: five Nepalese, one Pakistani, one Omani, one American, one Chinese, and one additional foreign national, according to the ACP’s official confirmation. All communication devices carried by the group have remained silent since the incident, triggering an urgent large-scale search and rescue response.
Purja, 43, is one of the most accomplished high-altitude climbers of his generation. Before transitioning to full-time mountaineering and expedition guiding, he built a 16-year career in British military service, serving first in the Brigade of Gurkhas and later in the Royal Marines’ elite Special Boat Squadron. Since turning his focus to climbing, he has redefined the limits of high-altitude mountaineering, breaking multiple world records that stood for decades.
In 2019, Purja made global headlines by summiting all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter-plus peaks, known as “eight-thousanders,” in just six months and six days — a feat that shattered the previous record by years. In 2021, he led the first team to successfully summit K2, the world’s second-highest peak, in the harsh winter season, a milestone many thought impossible for decades.
Just days before the avalanche, Purja shared his latest expedition goal on social media platform X: he was attempting to become the first climber in history to summit all 14 eight-thousanders twice without using supplemental oxygen. In his final post before losing contact, he shared a reflective message about his approach to high-altitude climbing: “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be. My purpose has never been about me. It’s about what I represent. It’s about showing YOU that your own mountains — whatever they are — are climbable.”
Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain on Earth, is widely regarded as one of the most technically challenging of all 8,000-meter peaks, with unpredictable snow conditions and high avalanche risk that deter even experienced climbers. It was first successfully summited by an Austrian expedition team in 1957.
In response to the incident, Pakistani authorities have mobilized emergency rescue resources: two Pakistan Army helicopters outfitted with specialized high-altitude rescue gear and experienced search personnel have been deployed to the area to support ground teams, who face extreme conditions in the high-altitude search zone. The ACP noted that the helicopters are intended to boost the capacity of on-the-ground teams operating in the harsh, remote environment of the Karakoram, as rescuers work against the clock to locate the missing climbers.