World-famous mountain climbing legend Nirmal Purja has been confirmed dead in an avalanche during a climbing expedition in Pakistan. His entire 10-member team perished with him, his company said in an announcement.
The mountaineers lost their lives as they climbed Pakistan’s Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world.
They had been missing since Thursday, when the incident took place and search efforts were ongoing for the team.
Only three bodies were recovered by rescue crews, but it has been confirmed that there were no survivors.
“The tragic death of six Nepalese and four other foreign climbers, including world record holder Nirmal Purja, in the Karakoram mountain range of Pakistan, has shocked us,” Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah posted on social media.
Mountaineer broke record from 8 years down to 6 months
This wasn’t the first time for Nirmal Purja on Broad Peak.
The mountain climbing legend, a native of Nepal, gained global acclaim in 2019 for his record-breaking achievement to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks in just over six months – an unimagined feat that the previous record holder had achieved in 8 years.
Purja’s journey was chronicled in the Netflix documentary, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, released two years later as he became an influential figure all over the world and often used his fame to raise funds for charity.
A must watch video if you are looking to climb mighty Everest in the future 🤜🏽💥
Today, we’re taking you behind the scenes of our Everest 2026 expedition. From the journey to Base Camp, to the challenges of the Khumbu Icefall, the teamwork between our Sherpas and climbers, and… pic.twitter.com/yzWnw3b4HT
— Nirmal Purja MBE (@nimsdai) July 17, 2026
He had previously served in the British military for 16 years, 10 of which were spent in the special forces, and he was awarded an MBE by the late Queen Elisabeth II in 2018 for his achievement in extreme high-altitude mountaineering, the BBC reports.
Tragedy struck just before breaking yet another record
According to his last post on X, Purja was after a second major world record which prompted him to go on the fatal climbing expedition.
If he managed to climb Broad Peak this week, he would be missing just one more peak before becoming the first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice, and without oxygen.
“Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” Punja wrote days before being struck by the avalanche.”I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be.”
But fate had different plans for the mountaineer this time.
“My purpose has never been about me. It’s about what I represent. It’s about showing YOU that your own mountains—whatever they are—are climbable,” he concluded, in what, unknowing to him, would be his last words to the world.
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