Four bodies have been found on Broad Peak after an avalanche hit a team of climbers around July 30, 2026. Ten people are still missing on the mountain, which is the 12th-highest in the world. Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, reported the recovery of four bodies on July 31. This updated an earlier count of two confirmed by Pakistan's Dawn newspaper while the search was still going on.

Among the missing is Nirmal Purja, a British-Nepali climber famous for his record-breaking high-altitude achievements. The Alpine Club of Pakistan received initial reports that the avalanche struck a team led by Purja, according to the Manila Bulletin's sports desk. The Alpine Club separately confirmed that Purja was feared missing after the avalanche.

The avalanche is believed to have happened on or around July 30, Reuters reported, describing the event as taking place "a day earlier" than its July 31 dispatch. The avalanche struck around midday, according to Dawn. Among the missing is a climber identified as Sohail Sakhi. Another member of the group, Sadpara, was described by the Alpine Club of Pakistan as a courageous mountaineer known for his dedication to rescue missions. Nepali climber Prakash Gurung, part of Elite Exped's guide team for the 2026 season, was also on the mountain, according to Climbing magazine.

A search and rescue operation was underway on July 31 to find the ten missing climbers. Pakistan's government broadcaster, Radio Pakistan, published a report on the operation that same day. The effort involved coordination between Pakistani authorities and mountaineering organizations on the ground.

Broad Peak stands at 8,051 meters, or about 26,400 feet, and sits on the border between Pakistan and China in a mountain range called the Karakoram. During the summer, brief periods of stable weather open up, and multiple teams of climbers try to reach the summit in a short span of time. Think of it as a narrow door that only opens for a few days — when it does, everyone rushes through at once.

Purja's presence on Broad Peak puts him in the Karakoram during this short window when conditions are best for climbing mountains above 8,000 meters. His organization, known as "Nimsdai," supports mountain communities in Nepal, according to CNN. The Alpine Club of Pakistan's description of Sadpara as a climber dedicated to rescue missions suggests that at least some members of the group had experience with high-altitude recovery operations.

The rising number of bodies found — from two, as Dawn reported, to four, per Reuters — shows that the search was actively progressing through July 31 and that the situation on the mountain was still changing. Reuters attributed its reporting to Pakistani sources, while Dawn and Radio Pakistan provided domestic confirmation of the search effort.

The broader context here is that the Karakoram range has a long history of climbing deaths during the summer season. Avalanches and collapsing ice (called seracs, which are large blocks of glacial ice that can break off without warning) are constant dangers on peaks above 8,000 meters. The timing of this avalanche, around midday in late July, falls within the usual summit-push period when teams race to the top during short stretches of good weather.

With six climbers still unaccounted for as of the most recent reporting, the search operation on Broad Peak remains active. The identity of the four recovered bodies has not been specified in the available reporting.