ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Famed British Nepali climber Nirmal Purja and all nine other climbers swept away by an avalanche in Pakistan have died, and search teams were trying to recover their bodies, Purja’s expedition company said Saturday.
“The world has lost one of mountaineering’s greatest climbers,” the company, Elite Exped, said in a statement. It stressed that it mourned all the lives lost, adding: “No words can ease the pain of this unimaginable loss.”
The 10-member expedition was swept away by an avalanche Thursday on Pakistan’s Broad Peak.
Rescuers found four bodies and recovered three of them Friday in harsh weather that hampered flights by search and rescue helicopters. Rescuers backed by military helicopters had resumed a search earlier Saturday for the others.
“The loss of these courageous climbers, who came from different nations united by their passion for the mountains, is an immeasurable loss to the global mountaineering fraternity,” said Irfan Arshad Khan, the president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
He paid tribute to the military and civilian rescuers and sherpas who took part in the search mission.
“The mountains inspire us with their beauty, but they also remind us of the immense risks faced by those who venture into the high Himalaya and Karakoram,” he said.
Earlier Saturday, a local police official, Tahir Khan, said the remains of Omani climber Nathira Ahmed were being flown to the capital, Islamabad, while the bodies of American climber Mallory Geis and Nepalese climber Bahadur Gurung remained at a hospital in Skardu, the main city in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The expedition was led by Purja, the Nepal-born former British army soldier widely known as Nims Dai. He climbed the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record 189 days in 2019, an achievement featured in the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.” His record was broken in 2023.
Purja’s reputation has been tarnished in recent years, as multiple women in his climbing groups have accused him of sexual assault and harassment, according to reporting by the New York Times. Purja denied the allegations.
The expedition was Geis’ first try at an 8,000-meter peak — more than 26,200 feet — in Pakistan, while it was expected to be the final one for Sakhi, who is a guide for the company as well as a geographer and high-altitude photographer who has climbed some of the world’s major peaks, according to the Moving Mountains website.
Accidents are common on climbing expeditions in northern Pakistan because of avalanches, falling ice and rock, high altitude and rapidly changing weather.
Ahmed and Khan write for the Associated Press. Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.
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