Nirmal Purja among 10 climbers feared missing after avalanche

What the report says

BBC World News reports that a 10-person international mountaineering team led by Nirmal Purja, the Nepal-born former Royal Marine and high-altitude climber, is feared missing after an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan. Pakistani mountaineering officials said the avalanche struck around midday Thursday on the 8,047-metre mountain in the Karakoram range, and that there had been no contact with the climbers afterward.

According to the BBC, the group is said to include Purja, an American, a Chinese national, an Omani and five Nepalis. Karrar Haidri, vice-president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, told the BBC that efforts were under way to coordinate with authorities and arrange a possible helicopter rescue on Friday morning, subject to the weather.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan separately said it was maintaining contact with officials to help mobilise available resources as quickly as possible. The organisation also expressed support for the missing climbers’ families and the wider mountaineering community.

Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain, is considered a demanding expedition objective. Purja is internationally known for completing all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres in just over six months in 2019, a feat that brought him major attention in the climbing world. The BBC notes that he joined the British Army in 2003, became a Royal Marine in 2009, and began his high-altitude climbing career after first walking to Everest base camp in 2012.