A photo of Nepali-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja, aka Nims Dai, and nine others who were part of an expedition climbing Pakistan’s Broad Peak, has been shared online. The picture is claimed to have been captured moments before the expedition party was hit by an avalanche last week. The ten climbers died at approximately 5,700 m after they were swept away by the avalanche.
Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest peak at 8,051-metre, is part of the Karakoram range and lies in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The purported image of Purja, the 43-year-old celebrated mountaineer, and nine others was posted on Instagram by Pakistan-based tour operator Karakoram Vision.
WATCH: Moments Before Nirmal Purja, 9 Others Were Lost
The tour operator claimed the image was captured on July 30 before the avalanche trapped the 10 climbers. “We were watching from base camp and could clearly see the 10 international climbers–including world-famous mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja–pushing up the mountain,” the post was captioned.
Also sharing a video of the moment the tragedy struck, the tour operator wrote, “After the snow cleared, we scanned the upper slopes with horror. No one was visible anymore.”
Who Were The Climbers Killed In Avalanche On Broad Peak
The expedition led by Purja included nine other climbers, five from Nepal, and one from Pakistan, Oman, the US and China each. The expedition company, Elite Exped, on Saturday confirmed the death of all 10 members.
As many as seven bodies, including that of Nirmal Purja, have been recovered from Broad Peak, while three remain missing.
The bodies of Oman’s Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepal’s Pur Bahadur Gurung and American Mallory Geis were recovered on Friday and airlifted to Skardu. Purja and three others, including China’s Wang Zhong and Nepali climbers Nima Sherpa and Kili Pemba Sherpa were recovered on Sunday by a ground team.
Also read: Mountaineer Nirmal Purja ‘Dai’, killed by avalanche, had ‘only one dream’
A Pakistani guide, Sohail Sakhi, is among those whose bodies are yet to be recovered. According to Ayaz Shigri, the general secretary of Alpine Club of Pakistan, rescuers had confirmed the presence of one additional body at a higher elevation. However, the recovery attempt was unlikely at this point of time due to the extremely hazardous terrain, he said.
Explaining the challenges posed during the rescue, the Alpine Club of Pakistan mentioned further risk of avalanches and steep slopes. The rough weather conditions were hindering the deployment of Helicopters.
Who was Nirmal Purja
Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja was a Nepali born, British citizen, renowned across the world for climbing the world’s 14 highest peaks in record time. The mountain climber was a former Gurkha soldier in the British army. Purja came from a family with generations in the military service, the Kathmandu Post reported. He was born on July 25, 1983, in Dana village in Myagdi district of Nepal.
He was fondly called ‘Nims Dai’, which meant ‘older brother’ in Nepali. Purja had achieved the feat of climbing the world’s 14 highest peaks within a record 189 days in 2019. This milestone was documented by Netflix in ’14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible’.
Nims began his climbing career in 2012, with a trek to the Everest Base Camp, and summited Mount Everest for the first time in 2016. In 2019, he started to work towards his ambition to climb the 14 peaks.