Nirmal Purja and nine fellow climbers die in Broad Peak avalanche FAST-MOVING
An avalanche struck Broad Peak (8,047 m) in Pakistan's Karakoram range on 30 July 2024, hitting a ten‑person expedition led by Nepal‑born mountaineer Nirmal Purja. All ten climbers were reported missing. Elite Exped, the company founded by Purja, confirmed his death and that the other expedition members also perished. Search and rescue teams from the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the Pakistani army and international volunteers deployed helicopters and drones, but severe weather and difficult terrain hampered recovery efforts. Four bodies have been located and identified: Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy, Nepalese guide Pur Bahadur Gurung, and American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, with two additional bodies recovered but not yet identified. The remaining six climbers, including Pakistani Sohail Sakhi, Chinese Wang Zhong and other Nepalese members, remain missing. Nepal’s Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa paid tribute to Purja and the other climbers, noting their impact on the perception of Nepali mountaineers.
Entities: Alpine Club of Pakistan · Ayaz Shigri · Broad Peak · Elite Exped · Gagan Thapa · Gilgit‑Baltistan · Karakoram Mountains · Karakoram range · Karrar Haidri · Major General Irfan Arshad · Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy · Nirmal Purja
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 12 SOURCES] GPS data showed the avalanche swept the climbers about 1,000 m downhill. (existing)
- [● 23 SOURCES] Rescue teams hope to deploy helicopters pending suitable weather conditions. (multiple articles)
- [● 31 SOURCES] An avalanche struck Broad Peak in Pakistan on the afternoon of 30 July 2026. (clm_e189f8fd-c1bf-4228-bf49-2955895b1237)
- [● 37 SOURCES] The Alpine Club of Pakistan is coordinating the rescue with Pakistani government authorities. (existing)
- [● 23 SOURCES] Nirmal “Nims” Purja, a Nepal‑born former Royal Marine, is among the missing climbers. (multiple articles)
- [● 23 SOURCES] The expedition included five Nepali climbers, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American and a Chinese climber. (multiple articles)
- [● 25 SOURCES] Ten climbers are missing after the avalanche. (new)
- [● 13 SOURCES] Broad Peak is 8,047 m high and ranks as the world’s 12th‑highest mountain. (All articles provide this geographic fact.)
- [● 6 SOURCES] Nirmal Purja is a Nepal‑born former Royal Marine and record‑setting mountaineer. (clm_eade8f3d-b62b-485c-81a0-ed604038e295)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The expedition included five Nepali climbers, a Pakistani (Sohail Sakhi), an Omani, an American, a Chinese and one other foreign climber. (belongs=true)
- [● 18 SOURCES] An avalanche struck Broad Peak on 30 July 2026 around midday. (clm_d212a8e3-94c0-4553-9701-ff34c7dde357)
- [DISPUTED] Four bodies were recovered from the avalanche site. (existing)