Particle.news
Download on the App Store
14 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Search Teams Recover Nirmal Purja and Three Others From Broad Peak

Recoveries total seven with three climbers still missing as crews wait for safer conditions to continue retrievals.

Monks chant religious mantras before lighting candles in memory of the climbers who died Thursday in an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Family members, friends and supporters light candles in memory of the climbers who died Thursday in an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
FILE - Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who became the fastest climber of the world's 14 highest peaks, arrives at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Oct. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

Overview

  • A wind‑loaded avalanche swept a 10‑member Elite Exped party on Broad Peak during a summit push on Thursday, July 30, and there were no survivors.
  • On Wednesday, Aug. 5, Pakistani military‑backed teams and civilian climbers recovered the bodies of Nirmal Purja, Zhong Wang, Nima Sherpa and Kilu Pemba Sherpa and brought them to Broad Peak base camp, bringing total recoveries to seven.
  • Three expedition members remain unaccounted for and teams say recovery work will resume only when weather, fresh avalanche risk and unstable slopes allow safe access.
  • Garmin tracker signals and on‑mountain reconstructions place the avalanche near 6,600–6,660 metres and show devices later transmitting thousands of vertical feet lower, consistent with a large slide down steep terrain.
  • The loss includes several leading Nepali guides, prompting national grief and raising questions about changing high‑altitude snow and ice conditions in the Karakoram that can make slopes less predictable for climbers and recovery teams.