Top mountaineer Nirmal Purja confirmed dead after 11 hit by avalanche in Pakistan

Other members of expedition led by world-renowned climber on Broad Peak also died, climbing company says A world-renowned Nepali mountaineer and former UK Special Forces member has died after being among 11 climbers caught in a deadly avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. Nirmal Purja was killed leading an expedition of 10 other people on the world’s 12th-highest mountain when an avalanche struck at around noon on Thursday. Elite Exped, the company Purja co-founded, said in a statement: “Today it is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal ‘Nimsdai’ Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak.” “We have also received confirmation that other members of the expedition sadly did not survive,” it said, without further detail. Purja made history in 2019 after climbing all 14 of the world’s peaks over 8,000 metres in just over six months. He later led the first team to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, in winter. “Records are made to be broken,” the former Gurkha and UKSF member told the Guardian in 2019. “Someone one day will come along and be stronger. People are only limited by their imagination. If you don’t dream,