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The body of veteran Nepalese-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja has been found on Broad Peak, three days after he and other members of his expedition were caught in a deadly avalanche. The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) announced that a ground rescue team reached Purja at an altitude of approximately 5,700 metres, as reported by The Hindu and Dawn.

Purja, 43, was leading an expedition of ten climbers up the 8,047-metre peak in the Karakoram range when an avalanche struck on Thursday. Elite Exped, the mountaineering company Purja co-founded, confirmed his death and said other members of the expedition had also not survived, according to The Guardian and Fox News.

Coverage comparison

Coverage of the tragedy has differed on the number of climbers affected and the recovery count. Fox News reported that 10 climbers were confirmed dead, while a separate Guardian article stated that 11 climbers were caught in the avalanche. The Hindu initially referred to a 10-member team, while Dawn's latest update mentioned that nine fellow climbers were swept away. These differing figures likely reflect updates as rescue efforts progressed.

The number of recovered bodies also changed across reports. On Friday, both The Guardian and Dawn reported that four bodies had been found. Fox News reported that three bodies had been recovered on Friday, with the search restarting on Saturday. The Hindu later reported that five bodies had been recovered by Sunday, when the ACP announced it had located Purja's body. The ACP noted that three additional bodies had been sighted near Purja's location, though their identities were unconfirmed.

Key claims

  • Purja's body was found at an altitude of about 5,700 meters on Broad Peak, according to the ACP as reported by The Hindu and Dawn.
  • The company Elite Exped announced that all members of the expedition had died, as reported by The Hindu, Dawn and The Guardian.
  • Four bodies were recovered first, including those of Nadhira Alharthy from Oman, Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal, and American Mallory Geis, as stated in reports from The Guardian, Fox News and The Hindu.
  • The avalanche occurred at around noon on Thursday, with the group last located at 6,600 metres, according to The Hindu and The Guardian.
  • Purja made history in 2019 by climbing all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres in just over six months, as reported by The Guardian, Fox News, The Hindu and Dawn.
  • The expedition also included a Pakistani climber, an Omani climber, an American climber, a Chinese climber and several Nepali climbers, as documented by The Guardian and The Hindu.
  • Purja was a former UK Special Forces member, having served in the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Marines' Special Boat Squadron, as noted by The Guardian and Fox News.
The rescue effort that a risk of avalanches and steep slopes hampered the rescue, and helicopters could not be employed due to weather, owing to the ACP as reported by The Hindu.

Elite Exped, in his statement, expressed their grief in the loss of "one of mountaineering's greatest climbers," as quoted by Fox News. The ACP president praised the“immensurable loss to the global mountaineering fraternity” from the passing of these climbers per Fox News, while the Elite Exped statement added that“Words cannot erase the pain of this unimaginable loss. "

The tragic event marked the world of mountaineering, many of the climbers had achieved significant feats in their careers, but the accident showed the perils of high-altitude climbing. Search and recovery operations have been hampered by severe terrain, but the ACP and other agencies continue to work to bring the remaining missing climbers down.