SKARDU
\nCelebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world\u2019s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company said on Saturday.
\n\u201cToday it is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal \u2018Nimsdai\u2019 Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,\u201d his expedition organising company Elite Exped said in an Instagram post.
\n\u201cWe have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,\u201d it added, without giving details.
\nPurja, 43, and nine others had been missing since Thursday after being struck by an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414-foot) Broad Peak, the world\u2019s 12th highest mountain, a technically difficult climb in Pakistan\u2019s Gilgit-Baltistan region.
\nPurja, who served with British special forces as a Gurkha, completed the record-breaking feat in six months in 2019. He became widely known internationally after the Netflix documentary chronicling his journey \u201c14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible\u201d was released two years later.
\nThe 10 mountaineers were caught in an avalanche around midday on Thursday. Six of the 10 climbers were Nepalis and the others were from Pakistan, Oman, the US and China.
\nThe avalanche struck while the mountaineers were on a mission to summit Broad Peak (8,047 metres, 26,400 feet) on Thursday while the team were ascending at an altitude of around 6,600 metres, according to regional authorities.
\nThe expedition comprised 10 people \u2014 including Purja, five Nepalis, a Pakistani, an Omani, an American, and a climber from China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SKARDU Celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world\u2019s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company said on Saturday. \u201cToday it is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal \u2018Nimsdai\u2019 Purja tragically lost his life following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-559700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n