There is also the well-known mountaineer Nirmal Purja, also known as “Nims Dai”, among the ten people missing since July 30 on Broad Peak, Pakistan, following an avalanche. Nirmal Purja is known for having climbed the 14 highest peaks in the world in six months and his name was included in the official list of the missing drawn up by the local Alpine Club.
The expedition consisted of climbers from Pakistan, Oman, China and the United States. Rescue teams recovered four bodies (which have not been identified), while six others are still missing. The rescue operations launched in recent hours with the support of Pakistani army helicopters and specialized mountain rescue teams continue despite the adverse weather conditions and dangerous high altitude conditions.
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“I am deeply concerned about reports of an avalanche and the loss of contact with Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ and other Nepalese climbers in Pakistan,” Nepal’s Tourism and Culture Minister Khadak Prasad Paudel said, according to Indian news agency PTI.
On July 30, 2026, a massive avalanche struck a summit-bound international mountaineering team on Broad Peak (8,047 meters) in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, leaving four climbers confirmed dead and six others still missing. The accident occurred around midday at an altitude of… pic.twitter.com/wTAI4arUTs
— Tranquil Kilimanjaro Treks (@TripKilimanjaro) July 31, 2026
Who is Nirmal Purja
Purja is 43 years old, Nepalese and a former soldier of the British army in the Gurkha brigade, the units made up of Nepalese soldiers serving the United Kingdom. His motto has always been “always a little higher” that is, “always a little higher”. As we read on his website, it all started in December 2012, when, on leave from service in the special forces, he undertook a trek to the Everest base camp. Shortly afterwards he successfully reached the summit of Lobuche East, 6119 meters high, together with his guide. His first summit.
In 2019 he achieved the feat of climbing all 14 mountains higher than eight thousand meters in just over six months, setting a record that would later be beaten a few years later. In 2021 he was the protagonist of the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible. Purja also participated in the 2021 expedition that climbed K2, the world’s second highest mountain, in winter for the first time.
Purja was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the Christian Empire) by Queen Elizabeth for his outstanding achievements in high altitude mountaineering, in particular for the rescue carried out in 2016, which prevented the failure of the Gurkha expedition, and for his exploits on the highest peaks of the Eight Thousand in 2017.
Nirmal Purja’s tracker data suggests how violent the avalanche and subsequent fall may have been. The device has shown slight movement over the past few hours, but this should be interpreted with caution, as signal fluctuations and tracking errors are common in high mountain… pic.twitter.com/6CzAXxWULA
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) July 31, 2026
The Broad Peak Challenge
Broad Peak, also known as the “Breithorn” of the Karakoram, takes its name from the enormous summit dome, almost a kilometer wide and with almost no slope. At 8051 meters high, it is the twelfth highest mountain in the world and represents an ambitious undertaking for experienced high-altitude mountaineers.