Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 10:25pm, 1 Aug 2026Celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company said on Saturday.
“Today it is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal ‘Nimsdai’ Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” his expedition organising company Elite Exped said on social media.
“We have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,” it added, without giving details.
Purja, 43, and nine others had been missing since Thursday after being struck by an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414-foot) Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain, a technically difficult climb in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Officials said the bodies of Purja and other climbers were located in a difficult site and had yet to be retrieved.
Purja, who served with British special forces as a Gurkha, completed the record-breaking 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.
