KATHMANDU: Chances of finding climbers alive on Broad Peak are almost nil, as ground and aerial search teams have expedited search-and-rescue operations at the avalanche site. 

Climbers who returned from K2, abandoning their summit push after the Broad Peak avalanche, told The Tourism Times that they flew a sophisticated drone and also received information from the search-and-rescue teams indicating that the chances of survival for all the climbers caught in the avalanche are almost nil.

“Three - Nadhira Al Harthy, Yukta Gurung, and an unidentified body part, probably belonging to an American climber - have been airlifted to Skardu, while the search team is attempting to recover other bodies from the Concordia side of the mountain,” they said. 

"The team that flew a drone from base camp noticed that four climbers — Nirmal Purja 'Nimsdai', Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, and Wang Zhong — were seen to have perished just below Camp I, toward the Concordia side," the drone team shared.

The search team also noted that all 10 climbers, including renowned mountaineer Nimsdai, had perished on the Concordia side, the climbers, who coordinated with the search-and-rescue team there, confirmed.

Details to follow.

(Update (August 1, 2026): Elite Exped has now officially confirmed that all 10 climbers, including Nirmal Purja, caught in the Broad Peak avalanche have died. Earlier reports from drone operators and search teams had suggested the same.)