World-renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja confirmed dead after Pakistan avalanche

(CNN) — The famed Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja – who made history over the years by trekking some of the world’s highest peaks – has been confirmed dead after an avalanche struck an expedition in the Himalayas earlier this week.

Purja “tragically lost his life” following the landslide, according to a social media post on Saturday published by the Nimsdai Foundation, which he founded in 2022. “Today, we mourn not only Nims, but every life lost in this tragedy including his trusted climbing partners and guides,” the Instagram post read.

“His legacy will live on in the countless lives he changed and the people he inspired to climb their own mountains,” the post added.

Forty-three-year-old Purja was among 10 mountaineers who went missing on Thursday after they were believed to have been on 8,047-meter-tall Broad Peak, in northern Pakistan, when a landslide hit around midday local time.

At least four people have been confirmed dead, including Purja, the Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy, the Nepali climber Pur Bahadur Gurung “Yukta” and the US climber Sarah Mallory Geis.

Purja’s foundation said “other members of the expedition sadly did not survive” without giving details and there has been no confirmation from authorities.

Recovery efforts for the six remaining climbers are ongoing. Earlier on Saturday, emergency workers had raised concerns to CNN over the prospect of another avalanche falling and hampering the operation

One Pakistani mountaineer warned the remaining climbers’ chances of survival “are very slim now.” “Pakistani mountains are very different to Nepal,” Naila Kiani, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Alpine Club, told the BBC on Saturday.

“Some of those areas are still avalanche prone, so our rescue team has to be very careful to assess whether they are endangering their lives,” she added.

Purja, a former British army soldier, raised the profile of climbing on the world stage by repeatedly breaking records as a measure of endurance. In 2019, he made history by climbing all of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters (26,300 feet) – dubbed by NASA as the Eight Thousanders – in just over six months.

Kiani, who previously climbed with Purja, described him as “very fearless” and said that “he made the impossible happen.”

In an interview in 2019, Purja told CNN that he wanted to use his platform to honor the skills of Nepal’s Sherpa people. “Even though they were top climbers, they didn’t get the right recognition,” Purja said. “Hopefully, I thought I could uplift their names.”

Al Harthy, the Omani mountaineer who died on Thursday, also previously spoke to CNN, describing her ambition to climb one of the Eight Thousanders. She used her profile to empower other Muslim women and girls – including her 32 nieces – to take on endurance sports.

“Our faith … it makes you stand up again. It gives you strength, it gives you power,” Al Harthy said in 2021. “(My nieces) are very strong, and they stand up for their rights,” she added. “I always wake up in the morning and say, ‘Alhumdullilah, thank God I’m here.’”

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CNN’s Lex Harvey, Ross Adkin and Xiaoqian Lin contributed reporting.