Avalanche kills four, search continues for others including famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja
By Lex Harvey, Ross Adkin, Xiaoqian Lin, Sophia Saifi, CNN
(CNN) — A search to find the rest of group of missing climbers, including world-renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, continues in Pakistan, following an avalanche that killed at least four of them.
Emergency crews on the ground and in helicopters have been scouring the Karakoram mountain range for the 10 climbers, who are believed to be have been on 8,047-meter-tall Broad Peak when an avalanche struck around midday Thursday.
Four people have been found dead by ground teams so far, said Irfan Arshad Khan, the Pakistan Alpine Club’s president.
The remains of three of them –– who officials named as American climber Mallory Geis, Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy and Nepali climber Pur Bahadur Gurung “Yukta” –– were recovered from the mountain and taken to a military hospital by an army helicopter.
Legal formalities “regarding identification” are underway, said tourism board of Gilgit Baltistan, a Pakistan administered region of Kashmir region. Drone footage suggests further bodies remain on the mountain, it said.
The search operation was suspended due to “inclement weather,” but Sherpas and expedition teams are prepared to join as soon as it resumes, the board said.
Rescuers, though, told CNN on Saturday that they are concerned about the prospect of another avalanche occurring.
“There is a lot of snow from whats been seen from the helicopters and we are being cautious as this is avalanche season,” said Ayaz Ahmed Shigri, general secretary of the alpine club, which is coordinating the rescue operation from Skardu.
Along with 43-year-old Purja and American Geis, the group included climbers from Oman, Pakistan and Nepal, according to the Alpine Club. CNN has reached out to the US State Department.
None of them have been heard from since the avalanche. The location of four climbers is showing up on GPS, according to Shigri.
Purja, also known as “Nims,” made history in 2019, climbing all of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters (26,300 feet) in just over six months. His feat was chronicled in the hit Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.”
Purja was a soldier for 16 years with the British army, in the Brigade of Gurkhas and later the Special Boat Service, an elite unit of the UK’s Royal Navy.
His mountaineering career began when he trekked to Everest Base Camp in 2012, an experience that “fired his passion and ambition for the mountains,” according to the website of his foundation, Nimsdai, which supports mountain communities in Nepal.
A spokesperson for Nimsdai told CNN it is in contact with authorities and its “immediate priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.”
Purja quickly became “addicted” to climbing, he told CNN in 2019.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018, for his military service and mountaineering achievements.
Purja set off on his record-breaking summit of the world’s 14 highest peaks in April 2019, finishing 189 days later in October, smashing a record set by South Korean Kim Chang-ho in 2013 – by more than seven years.
Purja and his team also carried out a number of daring rescues, often putting their own lives in danger.
He described his feat to CNN as an “extremely, horrendously good experience” – despite his oxygen being stolen while climbing Lhotse, Earth’s fourth-highest peak.
The speed record for summiting the world’s tallest peaks was broken again in 2023 by a Norwegian woman, Kristin Harila, and a Nepali man, Tenjin Sherpa, who summited all 14 peaks in three months and one day.
Purja brought global attention to the issue of overcrowding on Mount Everest, posting a photograph of a “traffic jam” on the upper slopes of the world’s highest peak during his summit in 2019. The resulting backlash to the images led the Nepalese government to draft new climbing rules.
In 2024, Purja became the fastest person to summit all 14 of the peaks without supplementary oxygen.
Summiting just one “8,000er,” let alone all 14, is challenging enough given climbers have to enter the “death zone” – a mountaineering term that describes altitudes over about 8,000 meters where the human body is exposed to insufficient levels of oxygen.
The 12th-tallest peak in the world, Broad Peak is considered slightly less technically difficult than other peaks such as its notorious neighbor K2, but it is prone to harsh and unpredictable weather.
In 2013, three Iranian climbers died on descent after summiting Broad Peak.
Pakistan’s worst modern mountaineering disaster occurred in 2008, when 11 climbers were killed after an avalanche on K2.
After climbing Broad Peak, Purja had planned to climb Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest mountain, located in the Himalayas, to become the first person in history to climb all 14 “8,000ers” twice, according to a post on his X account Monday.
“Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote.
“I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be.”
CNN’s Laura Sharman contributed reporting.
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