Mountaineer Nirmal Purja killed in Pakistan avalanche, his company says
Tinshui Yeung
AFP
Nirmal Purja became known internationally following a 2021 Netflix documentary
Renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja is among 10 people killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan, his company has said.
Sharing the news on social media, Elite Expeditions said it confirmed with "profound sadness and immense heartbreak" that Purja, 43, had died in Thursday's avalanche.
Purja, who was born in Nepal and later served in the British army, was known for scaling the world's 14 highest peaks in just over six months in 2019.
Pakistani officials had previously announced that the bodies of three climbers from his expedition - American Mallory Geis, Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman and Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal - had been recovered.
Purja's death was also confirmed by Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who said that "the tragic death of six Nepalese and four other foreign climbers, including world record holder Nirmal Purja, in the Karakoram mountain range of Pakistan, has shocked us".
"The history of their courage, dedication, and contributions will always remain inspiring," the prime minister added.
Naila Kiani, a spokesperson for the Alpine Club of Pakistan which is involved in the rescue efforts, told BBC's Newshour programme that Purja had led many expeditions that she was on and.
Praising his leadership skills, she described him as a "very experienced climber and fearless".
Kiani said the Alpine Club would only announce his death once the body has been recovered - but she added that "we are fearing them all dead".
She also said rescuers had seen some bodies - but were yet to reach them.
Teams in Pakistan have been searching for the climbers on the world's 12th-highest summit after an avalanche on the 8,047m (26,400ft) peak in the Karakoram range.
The multinational climbing group was being led by Purja. Also known as Nims, he rose to prominence in 2019 when he climbed all 14 of the world's mountains with peaks above 8,000m in 189 days - smashing the previous record by more than seven years.
He became widely known following a Netflix documentary chronicling his journey, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, released two years later.
At the time, he said: "It has been a gruelling but humbling six months, and I hope to have proven that anything is possible with some determination, self-belief and positivity."
Purja served in the British military for 16 years, 10 of which were spent in the special forces, and he was awarded an MBE by the late Queen in 2018 for his achievement in extreme high-altitude mountaineering.
Purja, who lived with his wife and three-year-old daughter in Hampshire in southern England, said he was also the first Gurkha to climb Everest while serving in the British military.
In his last post on X, published on Monday, he said he had not intended to climb Broad Peak.
"Initially, the plan was to climb just G2," Purja wrote, referring to Gasherbrum II, another peak in the Karakoram mountain range.
But right before he set off for Pakistan, he realised that if he also managed to climb Broad Peak while he was there, he would have only one more mountain to conquer before becoming the "first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen."
An eight-thousander is a mountain that rises more than 8,000m above sea level.
"This wasn't planned," Purja wrote. "But opportunities don't scream: they whisper to those already working in silence."
"Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted," he wrote.
Broad Peak is regarded as one of the more challenging mountains for climbers. The first successful ascent was in 1957, when an Austrian expedition reached the summit.
Since then, many more have climbed the mountain, but dozens have lost their lives.
One of Broad Peak's deadliest years was 2013, when at least six fatalities were recorded.
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AFP