One of the mountaineering world’s most celebrated figures has been claimed by the very peak he loved, after rescuers recovered the body of British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja following a catastrophic avalanche that killed his entire 10-person international expedition on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. The Alpine Club of Pakistan officially confirmed Sunday that search teams reached Purja’s remains at an elevation of roughly 5,700 meters on the 12th highest mountain in the world.
The disaster unfolded on Thursday, when a sudden avalanche hit the expedition led by the 43-year-old climber, cutting off all communications with the team immediately. In the days that followed, rescue operations launched by air and ground teams navigated treacherous high-altitude terrain to locate the missing group. As recovery efforts continued, the Alpine Club’s general secretary Ayaz Shigri confirmed that ground teams are currently transporting four recovered bodies — Purja, two additional Nepali nationals, and one Chinese citizen — down the mountain’s slopes. One more body has been located at a much higher elevation, but Shigri noted that extreme hazards and unstable conditions make any immediate recovery attempt unfeasible at this stage.
Three other remains — those of an Omani woman, a Nepali man, and an American woman — were recovered on Friday and flown by helicopter to the nearby city of Skardu, regional authorities confirmed. Purja’s own expedition company made a devastating announcement Saturday: no members of the 10-person team had survived the avalanche.
Before turning to full-time mountaineering, 43-year-old Purja built a distinguished career in British military service, serving first in the Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Royal Marines’ Special Boat Squadron. After launching his mountaineering career, he broke dozens of global climbing records, and was just days away from completing a groundbreaking achievement: becoming the first person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter “super peaks” twice without using supplemental oxygen. Just three days before the avalanche, Purja shared a public post on social media that read, “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down.”
News of the disaster has triggered an outpouring of shock and grief across the global mountaineering community, particularly in Nepal, where Purja worked to raise the profile of Nepali climbers and grow the country’s mountaineering sector. Britain’s Prince William was among the global leaders offering condolences, writing on X that Purja “served with distinction in the British Armed Forces before becoming one of the world’s greatest mountaineers, putting Nepalese climbers on the map,” adding that he was “truly saddened” by the loss of life.
Fur Gelje Sherpa, President of Nepal’s mountaineering association, called the tragedy “an unthinkable loss for our mountaineering community and for the nation,” noting that Purja remained committed to elevating Nepal’s global reputation and advancing the country’s mountaineering industry. Mingma G Sherpa, a mountaineer who took part in the rescue mission, shared a heartfelt message on Instagram Saturday writing, “My loving brothers… We will take you back home to see (your) families.”
Located in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, Broad Peak stands as the 12th highest mountain on Earth, and is widely considered one of the most technically challenging of all 8,000-meter-plus peaks. The mountain was first successfully summited by an Austrian expedition team in 1957.