Key Takeaways
- An avalanche struck a 10-member international climbing team on Broad Peak (8,051m/26,414ft) in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on the morning of Thursday, July 30, 2026, as the group moved between Camp 2 and Camp 3 at roughly 6,600–7,000 meters.
- Nirmal “Nims” Purja, the British-Nepali mountaineer famous for climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in under seven months, was leading the expedition and remains among those unaccounted for.
- Two climbers have been positively identified as dead: Nadhira Al Harthy of Oman and Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung of Nepal. News agencies including the AP and Reuters have reported that as many as four bodies were located on the mountain, though the Alpine Club of Pakistan’s own statements describe a more limited recovery, and the figure differs by source.
- Pakistan Army helicopters and ground search teams are searching the peak, but low visibility, high winds, and cloud cover have repeatedly grounded flights.
- A gap of nearly 13 hours between the avalanche and the first alert to rescue coordinators has emerged as one of the most scrutinized details of the unfolding story.
Why This Story Matters Right Now
Broad Peak sits in the shadow of K2, one of the most dangerous concentrations of extreme-altitude terrain on Earth, and this week it produced the deadliest single incident in the Karakoram climbing season. The scale of the disaster — ten climbers from six countries caught in one slide — and the identity of its most famous member have pulled the story out of the specialist mountaineering press and into mainstream international news within 24 hours. With half the group still unlocated as Friday’s weather window closed, the outcome remains genuinely uncertain, and it is being watched by government ministries in three countries.
What Happened on Broad Peak
Broad Peak is the world’s 12th-highest mountain, straddling the Pakistan-China border in the Karakoram range a short distance from K2. It has a reputation among high-altitude climbers as somewhat less technical than its famous neighbor, but its upper slopes are notoriously exposed to sudden weather shifts and windslab avalanche conditions.
According to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), the country’s governing mountaineering body, an avalanche — some reports describe it as two separate slides — struck the ten-person team at approximately 9:20–9:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, July 30, as climbers pushed from Camp 2 toward Camp 3 in preparation for a summit attempt. Satellite tracking devices (Garmin inReach units) carried by the climbers recorded a sudden, rapid loss of elevation consistent with an avalanche sweeping members downhill by hundreds of meters. Purja’s own tracker reportedly showed a fall of roughly 800 meters; Al Harthy’s showed her carried nearly to the base of the mountain.
Contact with the entire team was lost simultaneously. The ACP said in its initial statement that the team “has reportedly been out of communication since the avalanche.”
The Ten-Member Expedition
The climbers came from six nationalities and were split across four separate commercial teams operating on the mountain simultaneously — a common arrangement during peak Karakoram summit season, when multiple outfitters share fixed ropes and camps. Nepal’s tourism ministry has described the missing and deceased as coming from three expedition operators: Seven Summit Treks, Elite Exped (Purja’s own company), and Imagine Nepal Treks, along with two independent Pakistani high-altitude guides.
The ten climbers named by the ACP and confirmed by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs are:
- Nirmal “Nims” Purja (Nepal/United Kingdom) — expedition leader, Elite Exped
- Sohail Sakhi (Pakistan, from Hunza) — high-altitude guide
- Mallory Geis (United States) — Sakhi’s client
- Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy (Oman) — confirmed deceased
- Wang Zhong (China)
- Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung (Nepal) — confirmed deceased
- Kili Pemba Sherpa (Nepal)
- Nima Sherpa (Nepal)
- Nawang Thindu Sherpa (Nepal)
- Gyalu Sherpa (Nepal)
The Confusion Over the Body Count
One of the more striking features of this story is how much the reported number of recovered bodies has shifted within a single 24-hour news cycle — a reminder of how fluid and imperfect information flow is at extreme altitude, even in 2026.
The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and CBS News all reported Friday that Pakistani search crews had located four bodies on the mountain, citing senior government officials and Alpine Club sources. CNN quoted ACP general secretary Ayaz Ahmed Shigri as saying the location of four climbers was showing up via GPS.
However, the Alpine Club of Pakistan’s own public statements, relayed through outlets closer to the mountaineering community, describe a narrower confirmed recovery: two bodies — Al Harthy and Gurung — plus recovered gear, including a backpack and Garmin device belonging to Sohail Sakhi, whose own status remains unknown. Seven of the remaining climbers had reportedly been spotted via aerial drone footage by Friday, but their identities and physical condition could not be confirmed from the air.
CNETLABS is presenting both figures because, as of publication, they have not been reconciled by a single authoritative source. What is consistently confirmed across every outlet: two climbers, Al Harthy and Gurung, have been identified and are deceased. The condition and location of the remaining eight team members, including Purja, is still described by officials as unconfirmed. The Alpine Club has explicitly urged the public “to await verified updates before drawing conclusions.”
Race Against the Weather: Rescue Operations
Military and Aviation Response
Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chief Minister, Amjad Hussain, placed regional emergency departments on high alert and confirmed the deployment of two Pakistan Army Aviation helicopters flying sorties out of Skardu toward the Concordia region, the staging area for K2 and Broad Peak expeditions. Elite Pakistani high-altitude climbers, including record-holders Sirbaz Khan and Sherzad Karim, were reportedly flown in to assist ground teams. Nearby K2 expeditions were paused so that guides and porters in the area could be redirected to support the search.
Ground Recovery Efforts
Alongside the air operation, an overland rescue effort involving high-altitude porters worked to bring survivors and remains down toward Base Camp. Thaneshwar Guragain, general manager of Seven Summit Treks, said some climbers swept away in the slide were being brought back to Base Camp through this ground effort, and that the two identified bodies were recovered during that operation rather than by helicopter.
Weather as the Deciding Factor
Every account of Friday’s operation cites the same obstacle: weather. Low visibility, high winds, and dense cloud cover at 7,000 meters repeatedly grounded helicopter flights and slowed porters climbing on foot. Gilgit-Baltistan’s chief minister’s office confirmed that bad weather continued to hamper the rescue through Friday. Some later reports indicated clearer conditions were expected into the weekend, offering a narrow window for aerial search before the story’s outcome likely becomes clearer one way or another.
The 13-Hour Delay
Among the most scrutinized details to emerge is the gap between the avalanche and the first alert to rescue coordinators. According to Alpine Club of Pakistan representative Naila Kiani, speaking to ExplorersWeb, officials were not informed of the disaster until roughly 10:00 p.m. — nearly 13 hours after the slide occurred around 9:20 a.m. “We only found out at 10 pm,” Kiani said, adding: “We are all shocked.”
That delay meant the daylight hours during which a helicopter search would have been most viable were lost entirely. Standard commercial guiding protocol on 8,000-meter peaks typically calls for radio check-ins with Base Camp every one to two hours during summit pushes through hazardous terrain — making the lag a subject of ongoing scrutiny, though no official cause has yet been given for why the alert was delayed.
Who Is Nirmal Purja? The Man at the Center of the Search
The scale of global attention on this story owes significantly to the profile of its expedition leader. Nirmal “Nims” Purja, a Nepal-born, British-Nepali mountaineer, is among the most recognized names in modern high-altitude climbing.
A former soldier who spent 16 years in the British military — first with the Brigade of Gurkhas, later with the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service — Purja became a global mountaineering celebrity in 2019 after climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in six months and six days, smashing the previous record by roughly seven years. The feat was chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible. In 2024, he became the fastest person to summit all 14 without supplemental oxygen.
Purja was reportedly deep into an even more ambitious pursuit at the time of the avalanche: a “Hat Trick” campaign to summit all 14 eight-thousanders three separate times. He had completed an oxygenless ascent of nearby Gasherbrum II on July 21 — by some accounts his 57th career summit of an 8,000-meter peak — just nine days before leading the Broad Peak team into the avalanche zone.
Business associates and members of his support team told reporters that Purja’s satellite tracker showed intermittent movement signatures in the hours after the slide, though this has not been independently confirmed as a sign of survival, and direct radio or voice contact with him has not been reestablished.
The Other Climbers
Mallory Geis (United States) was climbing as the client of Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi. Sakhi, from the Hunza Valley, is an experienced high-altitude guide; a backpack and Garmin device belonging to him were reportedly among the first items recovered by search teams.
Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy of Oman had posted on LinkedIn roughly three weeks before the avalanche that she was preparing to attempt both Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I, part of a broader goal to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks. Her body has been recovered and was transported by helicopter to Skardu.
Wang Zhong of China had summited Gasherbrum II alongside Purja on July 21 — his eleventh 8,000-meter peak. Broad Peak would have been his thirteenth; only Shishapangma in Tibet remained on his list to complete all 14.
Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung, born in Nepal’s Gorkha district — the region that gave its name to the famed Gurkha soldiers — had climbed 8,000-meter peaks 28 times prior to the accident and was described by his outfitter as one of Purja’s most trusted senior guides.
Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa, and Gyalu Sherpa are experienced Nepali high-altitude workers whose detailed biographies had not been widely published as of Friday; their families are being supported by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and their respective expedition operators.
Diplomatic and Institutional Response
Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed it is closely monitoring the situation, with the Nepali Embassy in Islamabad coordinating directly with Pakistani military and civilian authorities, including the Alpine Club of Pakistan, to support search efforts. Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Khadak Raj Paudel gave a public update Friday confirming four bodies had been recovered — though, notably, he said their nationalities had not yet been confirmed at the time he spoke, illustrating again how unsettled the official record remains.
The United Kingdom’s embassy in Pakistan issued a statement expressing concern over the missing British-Nepali national and praising Pakistani search-and-rescue teams for continuing operations in adverse conditions — a nod to Purja’s dual UK-Nepal identity and his past service in the British armed forces.
Broad Peak’s History and Karakoram Risk
Broad Peak has a difficult history despite its reputation as one of the more approachable 8,000-meter peaks. In 2013, three Iranian climbers died during their descent after summiting. Nearby K2 saw Pakistan’s worst modern mountaineering disaster in 2008, when 11 climbers were killed in a single incident.
The danger of extreme-altitude climbing lies partly in what mountaineers call the “death zone” — altitudes above roughly 8,000 meters where oxygen levels are too low to sustain human life for extended periods, even with rest. Climbers swept into deep snow deposits below that threshold, as this team was, face a race against exposure, injury, and burial time as much as against the terrain itself.
Climbing Community Reaction
The mountaineering community’s response has been immediate and visible across social platforms, with tributes, prayers, and real-time tracking updates circulating on X and Instagram throughout Thursday night and Friday. Much of the public anxiety has centered on the prolonged exposure faced by climbers who may be without shelter above extreme altitude, and on Purja’s outsized profile within the sport — built over nearly a decade of record-setting ascents and public advocacy for the Sherpa and high-altitude porter community, including a newly inaugurated porter shelter in the Everest region.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nirmal Purja confirmed dead? No. As of the latest updates, Purja is officially listed as missing, not deceased. His satellite tracker has reportedly shown intermittent movement, but rescue teams have not reestablished direct contact with him.
How many climbers have been confirmed dead in the Broad Peak avalanche? Two: Nadhira Al Harthy of Oman and Pur Bahadur “Yukta” Gurung of Nepal. Some news agencies have reported that up to four bodies were located on the mountain, but only these two have been positively identified by the Alpine Club of Pakistan as of publication.
Why is the rescue operation taking so long? Poor weather — low visibility, high winds, and heavy cloud cover at roughly 7,000 meters — has repeatedly grounded helicopter flights and slowed ground search parties on foot, according to Gilgit-Baltistan provincial officials.
Why wasn’t the rescue launched sooner after the avalanche struck? According to an Alpine Club of Pakistan representative, rescue coordinators were not alerted to the avalanche until nearly 13 hours after it occurred, which cost the team the daylight hours most viable for helicopter search. No official explanation for the delay has been given.
What is Broad Peak, and why is it significant in mountaineering? Broad Peak (8,051m/26,414ft) is the world’s 12th-highest mountain, located in Pakistan’s Karakoram range near K2. It’s considered one of the less technically demanding 8,000-meter peaks but is known for volatile weather and avalanche risk.
Closing Analysis
The next 24–48 hours hinge almost entirely on the weather window over the Karakoram. Rescue coordinators have indicated conditions may clear into the weekend, which would allow helicopters to resume systematic aerial search alongside ground teams already working from Base Camp. Until then, the central unresolved facts of this story — the true number of bodies located, and the fate of the eight climbers not yet positively identified, including Nirmal Purja — remain exactly that: unresolved. Pakistani, Nepali, and British officials have all signaled continued coordination, and expedition operators including Seven Summit Treks and Elite Exped are expected to issue further updates as search operations progress.
