Ten climbers led by renowned Nepali mountaineer ‘missing’ on Pakistan peak

Search underway for missing climbers on Broad Peak after four bodies recovered

Pakistani rescue teams have recovered four bodies from Broad Peak, the world's 12th-highest mountain, as the search continues for six other international climbers who went missing after an avalanche struck the peak on Thursday. The ten-member expedition was led by renowned Nepal-born mountaineer Nirmal Purja, also known as Nims Dai, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

The avalanche struck around midday on Thursday on the 8,047-metre peak in the Karakoram mountain range, the Alpine Club of Pakistan reported. The team had been out of communication since the incident, the club said in a statement. Authorities said the climbers lost contact with their base camp while attempting to scale the mountain, as reported by ABC Australia, citing Alpine Club Vice President Karrar Haidri.

Two Pakistan Army Aviation helicopters joined the operation on Friday, while an experienced ground team was deployed to the area where the climbers were last believed to have been, reported Deutsche Welle. The region's Chief Minister Amjad Hussain said adverse weather had been hampering rescue efforts, according to ABC Australia.

Pakistani security sources said the four bodies had been located but not yet recovered, as reported by Deutsche Welle. The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, cited in an Al Jazeera report, said authorities did not immediately identify whose bodies were found.

Coverage comparison

Reports of the incident have varied in their focus. Early accounts from the Alpine Club of Pakistan, carried by Al Jazeera, France 24 and the South China Morning Post, centred on the club's concern for the missing team and its efforts to mobilise rescue resources. Later reports, including those from ABC Australia, Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera, shifted to the recovery of bodies and the ongoing search for the remaining climbers.

The BBC reported that Purja, 43, was the leading figure of the international team and that Kili Pemba Sherpa and Pur Bahadur Gurung were also guiding the expedition. The same report included tributes from Ben Ayers, a longtime Everest reporter for Outside Magazine, who described Purja as "iconic and undisputedly amongst the best of his generation."

Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, provided additional details on the team's movements, reporting that the climbers had launched their summit bid on Broad Peak on Wednesday, targeting the summit by Friday. The same report noted that, according to the climbers' GPS locations, they had been thrown down a full kilometre by the avalanche and were likely trapped.

Key claims

The Alpine Club of Pakistan lost contact with the ten-member team after an avalanche struck around midday on Thursday. This claim was reported by multiple sources, including Dawn, the BBC, and the Alpine Club's own statements as carried by Al Jazeera and France 24.

The team was led by renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja and comprised Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi of Hunza, five Nepalese climbers, an American, an Omani, a Chinese climber, and one other foreign climber. This composition was reported by Dawn, Al Jazeera, and the South China Morning Post, which identified the Omani as Nathira, the American as Mallory Geis, and the Chinese climber as Wang.

The team had launched its summit bid on Wednesday, targeting the summit by Friday, a detail reported by Dawn.

Four bodies have been recovered from the mountain during the search, as reported by ABC Australia, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle.

Purja climbed all 14 "eight-thousanders" — peaks above 8,000 metres — in six months and six days between April and October 2019, a record at the time. This was reported by Al Jazeera, France 24, and the BBC.

Purja completed the first winter ascent of K2 in 2021 as part of a team of nine other Nepalese climbers, as reported by Al Jazeera and France 24.

Perspectives

Alpine Club of Pakistan

The Alpine Club of Pakistan said it had received "deeply concerning reports" of the avalanche and that the entire team had been out of communication since the incident. It said every possible effort was being made to mobilise helicopter support and rescue resources, subject to weather and operational conditions, and that the club stood in solidarity with the climbers' families and the international mountaineering community.

Authorities and rescue officials

Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the tourism department in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region, told Reuters that the search for the remaining six climbers was focusing on a "remote and difficult area." Chief Minister Amjad Hussain noted that adverse weather had been hampering rescue efforts.

Colleagues and guides

Ben Ayers of Outside Magazine described Purja as "iconic" and among the best of his generation. Gyanendra Shrestha, a government official who was at Base Camp during one of Kili Pemba Sherpa's climbs, praised his care in guiding double-leg amputees up Everest. Himal Gautam, a spokesman for Nepal's tourism department, said of Pur Bahadur Gurung: "It takes a lot of money, passion and dedication to become an IFMGA guide... It also speaks to the unprecedented loss we have suffered on Broad Peak."