World awaits status of missing climbers, including Nirmal Purja

Rescue teams are racing against time to determine the fate of climbers on Pakistan's Broad Peak, following an avalanche that struck a 10-member expedition. Among the missing is Nirmal Purja, a celebrated Nepali mountaineer known for his speed records.

By late Friday, drone surveillance had located six additional climbers, bringing the total number of sighted individuals to nine. However, their identities and conditions were not immediately confirmed by authorities. Three bodies had already been recovered earlier in the day, including those of Nepali climber Pur Bahadur Gurung and Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy. The whereabouts of the tenth climber remain unknown.

The avalanche hit the team around 9 a.m. Thursday at an altitude of roughly 7,600 meters, between Camp 2 and Camp 3, as they were ascending the 8,051-meter peak. GPS tracking data provided the first indication of the disaster, showing climbers moving rapidly downhill. Purja's own tracking device indicated movement until Friday morning, shifting downhill shortly after the avalanche.

Rescue operations, coordinated from base camp, faced delays due to darkness on Thursday night. Search teams resumed at first light Friday, recovering the first bodies by mid-morning. A Pakistani Army helicopter later transported them for further processing. The pace of rescue efforts in Pakistan has been noted as slower than in Nepal, primarily due to reliance on military resources rather than the immediate private helicopter response available in Nepal.

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The GPS track showed people coming straight down from above 7,000 metres. That’s when I understood the situation wasn’t good.