Coverage spread: 3 sources — 1 left · 2 international
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An avalanche struck a multinational climbing expedition on Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain, in Pakistan’s Karakoram range on the border with China. The 10-to-11-person team was climbing on the mountain’s popular west ridge route when the avalanche hit, reportedly around midday on Thursday, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP). Search and rescue operations have continued into a second day, hampered by bad weather and the remote, difficult terrain where the remaining climbers are believed to be located.
As of Friday evening, officials in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region confirmed that three bodies had been recovered and identified: Pur Bahadur Gurung (also known as Yukta), a Nepali mountaineer close to completing an ascent of all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks; Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy (Al Harthy/Alharthy), an Omani climber and the first Omani woman to summit Mount Everest, who had also climbed Manaslu, K2 and Nanga Parbat; and Mallory Geis, a 39-year-old American who had recently closed her Pilates studio to pursue mountaineering, describing the move on social media as “a giant leap of faith into the unknown.” A fourth body was reportedly located but not yet retrieved, according to early Guardian and Al Jazeera reporting, though accounts of the exact number recovered varied and were later clarified.
Among those still missing is Nirmal Purja, the Nepal-born former British Special Boat Service soldier known as “Nims Dai,” who led the expedition. Purja became internationally famous in 2019 for climbing all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000 metres in just over six months, and later led the first winter ascent of K2. GPS tracking data reported by Climbing magazine and the Guardian showed the team’s devices registering a rapid loss of altitude consistent with an avalanche, occurring near 9am local time at roughly 6,579 metres, between camps two and three. Geis’s tracker reportedly showed a sudden 543-metre drop, while Al Harthy’s showed a much larger 1,651-metre descent. Notably, Purja’s tracker shifted position after the initial drop, though his status remains unconfirmed.
Other members of the expedition include Chinese climber Wang Zhong, Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi, and Nepali climber Kili Pemba Sherpa, who has summited Everest 15 times and took part in the historic 2021 winter ascent of K2 alongside Purja. Al Jazeera also reported that Pakistani police said two British nationals were part of the missing team, a detail not confirmed by the other outlets. The Alpine Club of Pakistan said rescuers had spotted several climbers via drone footage but could not verify their identities or condition, and visual search efforts were suspended overnight due to darkness and weather. Military helicopters, which are the primary rescue resource in Pakistan (unlike Nepal’s more extensive private helicopter network), were on standby pending weather conditions.
How coverage compares
All three outlets — the BBC, the Guardian and Al Jazeera — agree on the core facts: an avalanche struck a roughly 10-person team on Broad Peak, three bodies have been identified (Gurung, Al Harthy and Geis), and Purja is among those still missing. They also agree the search has been slowed by weather and terrain, with drones spotting unidentified climbers.
The BBC’s initial framing highlighted a correction: it noted that an earlier report, based on Alpine Club of Pakistan information, had wrongly stated four members were found dead, which the club later called a miscommunication. This underscores the fluid and sometimes contradictory nature of the reporting. The Guardian gave the most technical detail on the avalanche’s mechanics, citing specific GPS tracker data and altitude drops, and also noted controversy in Purja’s past, including a denied allegation of inappropriate behavior — a detail the BBC and Al Jazeera did not include. Al Jazeera provided the most detail on individual climbers’ biographies, including Geis’s career change and Al Harthy’s status as a trailblazing Omani mountaineer, and was alone in reporting that Pakistani police mentioned two British nationals among the missing team, while also noting China’s foreign ministry said it was working to verify the situation and offered assistance to Pakistan. Al Jazeera additionally cited Gilgit-Baltistan tourism official Sajid Hussain describing the search area as remote and difficult.
Why it matters
Broad Peak, first climbed in 1957, is considered one of the more perilous 8,000-metre summits, with dozens of deaths recorded over the decades, including at least six in 2013 alone. The disaster has drawn global attention in part because of Purja’s international profile as one of modern mountaineering’s most decorated figures, and because the incident illustrates the continued risks facing high-altitude climbers on the world’s most extreme peaks, as well as the logistical limitations of rescue infrastructure in Pakistan compared with neighboring Nepal.
Sources
Featured photo: Kogo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)