Web desk(National Times)- Renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja died along with other team members in a powerful avalanche on Broad Peak, his climbing company confirmed on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,\u201d Purja\u2019s company Elite Expeditions said on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remains recovered so far \u2014 flown by helicopter to hospital for formal identification \u2014 included an American woman, an Omani woman and a Nepali man, the Gilgit-Baltistan government said in a statement released on Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Purja, who served with Britain\u2019s Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, broke multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister Balendra Shah offered his condolences over the \u201ctragic\u201d deaths of Purja and the other climbers, which he said \u201chas shocked us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe physical journey of all the deceased climbers\u2026 has been interrupted, but the history of their courage, dedication, and contributions will always remain inspiring,\u201d Shah said in a statement on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police in GB said in a statement that high-altitude porters and rescue teams were carrying out a second day of the operation on Saturday after the search was paused due to difficult weather conditions a day earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rescuers and army helicopters had been scouring the area and teams stayed at the base camp overnight, according to the GB government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe rescue operation is being conducted under extremely challenging terrain and high-altitude weather conditions by the Pakistani army in coordination with local high-altitude climbers and rescuers,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Powerful avalanche
The avalanche struck while the mountaineers were on a mission to summit Broad Peak (8,047 metres, or 26,400 feet) on Thursday and while the team was ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres, according to regional authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The expedition comprised 10 people \u2014 including Purja, five Nepalis, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team was last in contact on Thursday morning, the official statement said, with reports emerging that evening of the powerful avalanche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cData from their tracking devices indicates that they were thrown hundreds of metres down the mountainside,\u201d Naila Kiani, from Pakistan\u2019s Alpine Club, told Le Monde newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fida Ali, a climber in the area who worked closely with Purja since 2023, told AFP their focus for the climbing season was summiting Broad Peak, but they had first tackled another mountain, G2, in harsh weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali also joined the expedition to Broad Peak in its initial stages but returned early to accompany a Russian climber who was feeling the effects of exhaustion \u2014 narrowly avoiding the fatal avalanche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted to go with him (Purja) but couldn\u2019t and came back with her. I was part of the team but survived,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super peaks
Purja had written on X this week that he was close to becoming the first person to climb all 14 \u201csuper peaks\u201d twice without oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBroad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had climbed all 14 \u201ceight-thousanders\u201d (peaks above 8,000 metres) in six months and six days between April and October 2019 \u2014 then a record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broad Peak is the world\u2019s 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000-metre-plus ascents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was first summited in 1957 by an Austrian team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Web desk(National Times)- Renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja died along with other team members in a powerful avalanche on Broad Peak, his climbing company confirmed on Saturday. The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by 43-year-old British-Nepali climber Purja. \u201cIt is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n