Haunting image shows mountaineer Nirmal Purja and team moments before disaster
A picture taken from base camp is believed to be the last visual of mountaineer Nirmal Purja and his expedition climbing Broad Peak before a deadly avalanche struck. Purja was declared dead, while a search is on for the rest of the team.
As the world mourns the death of famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja, a haunting image believed to be the last visual of his expedition climbing the world's 12th-highest peak has surfaced online.
Shared by Pakistan-based tour operator Karakoram Vision on Instagram, the photo and accompanying footage from Thursday (July 30) show Purja and nine other climbers making their way up Broad Peak shortly before a devastating avalanche swept across the slope.
The tour operator said the image was captured "right before tragedy struck".
"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 group said in the post.
"Suddenly, a massive avalanche triggered above them. After the snow cleared, we scanned the upper slopes with horror. No one was visible anymore. It's a big tragedy on Broad Peak," it said.
The video shows a huge wall of snow crashing down the mountainside, engulfing everything in its path. "Oh my god!" a woman watching from below exclaims, before anxiously wondering whether the avalanche would reach the base camp.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched after reports of an avalanche on July 30 on the 8,047-metre peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Karakoram range. Broad Peak is regarded as one of the more challenging mountains for climbers
The 10-member multinational expedition was led by 43-year-old Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, who shot to global fame after scaling all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in just over six months in 2019. The record-setting feat was later chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks.
Purja was killed after the avalanche struck the team, his expedition company Elite Exped confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
Pakistani officials said search crews have located the bodies of four climbers and recovered three of them. The three have been identified as American Mallory Geis, Oman's Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal's Pur Bahadur Gurung.
Rescuers continued searching for the remaining climbers while braving harsh weather conditions, officials told the Associated Press. The search is reportedly focused on a "remote and difficult area”.
NIRMAL PURJA’S LAST POST
Just days before the expedition, Purja revealed that climbing Broad Peak had not been part of his original plan.
"Initially, the plan was to climb just G2," Purja wrote on X, referring to Gasherbrum II, another major peak in the Karakoram.
But before leaving, he realised that adding Broad Peak to the expedition would leave him just one summit away from becoming the "first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen".
An eight-thousander is a mountain rising more than 8,000 metres above sea level.
"This wasn't planned," Purja wrote. "But opportunities don't scream: they whisper to those already working in silence."
In what has now become a poignant final message, he added, "Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted."
As the world mourns the death of famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja, a haunting image believed to be the last visual of his expedition climbing the world's 12th-highest peak has surfaced online.
Shared by Pakistan-based tour operator Karakoram Vision on Instagram, the photo and accompanying footage from Thursday (July 30) show Purja and nine other climbers making their way up Broad Peak shortly before a devastating avalanche swept across the slope.
The tour operator said the image was captured "right before tragedy struck".
"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 group said in the post.
"Suddenly, a massive avalanche triggered above them. After the snow cleared, we scanned the upper slopes with horror. No one was visible anymore. It's a big tragedy on Broad Peak," it said.
The video shows a huge wall of snow crashing down the mountainside, engulfing everything in its path. "Oh my god!" a woman watching from below exclaims, before anxiously wondering whether the avalanche would reach the base camp.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched after reports of an avalanche on July 30 on the 8,047-metre peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Karakoram range. Broad Peak is regarded as one of the more challenging mountains for climbers
The 10-member multinational expedition was led by 43-year-old Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, who shot to global fame after scaling all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in just over six months in 2019. The record-setting feat was later chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks.
Purja was killed after the avalanche struck the team, his expedition company Elite Exped confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
Pakistani officials said search crews have located the bodies of four climbers and recovered three of them. The three have been identified as American Mallory Geis, Oman's Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal's Pur Bahadur Gurung.
Rescuers continued searching for the remaining climbers while braving harsh weather conditions, officials told the Associated Press. The search is reportedly focused on a "remote and difficult area”.
NIRMAL PURJA’S LAST POST
Just days before the expedition, Purja revealed that climbing Broad Peak had not been part of his original plan.
"Initially, the plan was to climb just G2," Purja wrote on X, referring to Gasherbrum II, another major peak in the Karakoram.
But before leaving, he realised that adding Broad Peak to the expedition would leave him just one summit away from becoming the "first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen".
An eight-thousander is a mountain rising more than 8,000 metres above sea level.
"This wasn't planned," Purja wrote. "But opportunities don't scream: they whisper to those already working in silence."
In what has now become a poignant final message, he added, "Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted."
As the world mourns the death of famed mountaineer Nirmal Purja, a haunting image believed to be the last visual of his expedition climbing the world's 12th-highest peak has surfaced online.
Shared by Pakistan-based tour operator Karakoram Vision on Instagram, the photo and accompanying footage from Thursday (July 30) show Purja and nine other climbers making their way up Broad Peak shortly before a devastating avalanche swept across the slope.
The tour operator said the image was captured "right before tragedy struck".
"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 group said in the post.
"Suddenly, a massive avalanche triggered above them. After the snow cleared, we scanned the upper slopes with horror. No one was visible anymore. It's a big tragedy on Broad Peak," it said.
The video shows a huge wall of snow crashing down the mountainside, engulfing everything in its path. "Oh my god!" a woman watching from below exclaims, before anxiously wondering whether the avalanche would reach the base camp.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched after reports of an avalanche on July 30 on the 8,047-metre peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Karakoram range. Broad Peak is regarded as one of the more challenging mountains for climbers
The 10-member multinational expedition was led by 43-year-old Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, who shot to global fame after scaling all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in just over six months in 2019. The record-setting feat was later chronicled in the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks.
Purja was killed after the avalanche struck the team, his expedition company Elite Exped confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
Pakistani officials said search crews have located the bodies of four climbers and recovered three of them. The three have been identified as American Mallory Geis, Oman's Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy and Nepal's Pur Bahadur Gurung.
Rescuers continued searching for the remaining climbers while braving harsh weather conditions, officials told the Associated Press. The search is reportedly focused on a "remote and difficult area”.
NIRMAL PURJA’S LAST POST
Just days before the expedition, Purja revealed that climbing Broad Peak had not been part of his original plan.
"Initially, the plan was to climb just G2," Purja wrote on X, referring to Gasherbrum II, another major peak in the Karakoram.
But before leaving, he realised that adding Broad Peak to the expedition would leave him just one summit away from becoming the "first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen".
An eight-thousander is a mountain rising more than 8,000 metres above sea level.
"This wasn't planned," Purja wrote. "But opportunities don't scream: they whisper to those already working in silence."
In what has now become a poignant final message, he added, "Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted."
