GILGIT: Rescuers recovered the bodies of renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja and three other climbers on Sunday after an avalanche killed him along with his nine team members on the world’s 12th highest mountain, Broad Peak, in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Besides the 43-year-old British-Nepali climber, also known as ‘Nims Dai’, the bodies recovered on Sunday were identified as those of China’s Wang Zhong and Nepal’s Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa.

Since July 30 when the avalanche struck, the remains of eight climbers have been recovered, while the bodies of two other members of the team including Pakistani national Sohail Sakhi and a Nepali Sherpa were yet to be recovered.

Naila Kiani of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) told Dawn that the remains of four climbers, including an American, were previously recovered, while five other bodies were also spotted on Broad Peak through aerial reconnaissance.

Search continues for remains of two, including Pakistani mountaineer

While sharing the news, the ACP earlier announced that the ground rescue team reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at around 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies were also sighted. The ground team would bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp, it added.

“Recovery efforts continue under extremely difficult terrain conditions.”

It said the ACP continued to monitor the ongoing recovery operation, and rescuers had also “confirmed the presence of one additional body at a significantly higher elevation”. However, “due to the extremely hazardous terrain and prevailing conditions, it is unlikely that a recovery attempt will be made at this stage,” it added.

ACP General Secretary Ayaz Shigri earlier told Dawn that the ground rescue team was heading towards the advanced base camp on the mountain to carry out the operation. He said that the mountain’s rugged terrain, avalanche risk and steep slopes were hampering rescue efforts, adding that helicopters could not be deployed due to adverse weather conditions.

Later, the ACP said an eight-member ground team comprising climbers from Pakistan and Nepal reached Camp 1 (C1). “They will conduct a search and recovery mission on the slopes of Broad Peak under extremely difficult conditions,” it added.

Six of Purja’s expedition team were Nepalese, while there was one each from Pakistan, Oman, the United States and China. The remains of Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman; Pur Bahadur Gurung and Gyalu Sherpa from Nepal, Sarah Mallory Geis from US were recovered on July 31 and Aug 1.

Purja had set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, completing the feat in six months in 2019. He became widely known internationally after the Netflix documentary chronicling his journey, ‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’, was rele­ased two years later. He also ser­ved in the British military with the Gurkhas and later in special forces.

In its announcement of the rescue team reaching Purja’s body, the ACP remembered him as a “man who made the impossible possible”.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2026