A ten-member international mountaineering team, led by acclaimed former Royal Marine Nirmal Purja, is feared missing following an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak. The 8,047-meter mountain is located in the Karakoram range.
Pakistani mountaineering officials reported that the avalanche occurred around midday on Thursday. Communication with the team has ceased since the incident. The group includes an American, a Chinese national, an Omani, and five climbers from Nepal, in addition to Purja.
Nirmal Purja, the expedition leader, gained prominence in 2019 for summiting all 14 of the world's mountains exceeding 8,000 meters in a record-breaking six months. Efforts to initiate a search operation are pending, with hopes to deploy a helicopter if weather conditions permit.