Image source, JOE STENSON/AFP via Getty Images

Four bodies have been found after ten mountaineers were declared missing late on Thursday following an avalanche at Broad Peak in the Karakoram mountain range.

The search has been paused overnight due to weather conditions, but authorities say it will resume again tomorrow.

Two of the deceased have been named as Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman and Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal. Tributes began coming through for both in recent hours.

Meanwhile, renowned mountaineer Nirmal Purja, known as Nims Dai, had been named as among the group of those missing.

The British-Nepali climber holds a number of records and had been awarded an MBE in 2018.

We're pausing our live coverage for now, but our news story will remain updated.

Search and rescue operations to find climbers missing on Broad Peak have been suspended for the day because of weather conditions, according to the Faisal Ehsan Pirzada, home secretary of Gilgit Baltistan.

Speaking to the BBC, Pirzada confirmed that the operations would start again tomorrow.

We have reported that one of the four people who have been confirmed dead is Nadhira Ahmed Al Harthy from Oman.

A few years ago, she did several interviews in Oman after being the first woman from the country to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

Tributes to her are starting to be posted on X.

Oman's Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority has sent condolences, adding that Al Harthy was an "exemplar" on sticking to safety standards and supporting safety awareness programmes.

The country's Olympic Committee separately pays tribute to her work as president of the Oman School Sports Federation, while wishing for solace for her family.

Two of the four people who have been confirmed dead have been now named by the Alpine Club of Pakistan as Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman and Pur Bahadur Gurung from Nepal.

The identities of the other two have not been released.

As a reminder, ten mountaineers in total had been declared missing late on Thursday.

Image source, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Among those reported to be missing is Nirmal Purja - one of the most recognised figures in mountaineering.

The British-Nepali climber holds multiple records and was awarded an MBE in 2018.

His most famous feat was in 2019, when he climbed the world's 14 tallest peaks in just over six months setting a record at the time for the fastest anyone had scaled all 14 mountains.

The 43-year-old was born in a small village in Nepal's mountainous Myagdi district, located around 1,600m above sea level.

In his most recent post on X, published on Monday, Purja said that he had not intended to climb Broad Peak.

"Initially, the plan was to climb just G2," he wrote, referring to Gasherbrum II, another peak located in the Karakoram mountain range.

"This wasn't planned," Purja wrote.

"But opportunities don't scream: they whisper to those already working in silence."

"Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted."

We've got more details in our story.

We can now bring you some comments from the Nepalese foreign ministry which says it is "closely monitoring" the situation.

"Our Embassy in Islamabad is coordinating with all relevant authorities of Pakistan including the Alpine Club of Pakistan to facilitate the swift and safe rescue of all affected mountaineers," the statement says.

"The Ministry has received assurances from the Pakistani authorities that they would mobilize all available resources for timely search and rescue operations," it concludes.

Carrie Davies
Pakistan correspondent

The tourism minister for Gilgit Baltistan has confirmed that four people have died and their bodies recovered in the aftermath of the avalanche at Broad Peak.

Ten climbers were declared missing late on Thursday.

He confirmed that two of the bodies have been identified, and authorities are in the process of identifying the other two.

Six climbers are missing and four bodies have been found following an avalanche on one of the world's tallest mountains, authorities say.

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• The avalanche hit, Broad Peak, an 8,047m (26,400 ft) peak in the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan region, at around midday on Thursday
• Four bodies have been recovered, according to police - though their identities have not been confirmed
• The expedition comprised six Nepali climbers, one American, one Pakistani, one Omani and one Chinese national. This was US woman Mallory Geis' first attempt at a 8,000m mountain, and Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Saki's last in Pakistan, according to their travel company
• Among the missing is Nirmal Purja, known as Nims Dai, one of the most recognisable faces of the modern mountaineering community. He's best known for setting a world record in 2019 for climbing the world's tallest 14 peaks in just six months.
• Purja was also a prominent member of the Nepalese community in south England's Eastleigh Borough
• Since the first ascent of Broad Peak was recorded in 1957, many more have attempted to conquer the 8,051m (26,414 ft) peak - though dozens have also lost their lives in the process
• Details about the deceased and missing remain unclear: "This is an unprecedented incident," a Nepal Tourism Department spokesperson told the BBC. "However, there are still some tiny hopes, with some conflicting information."

As search operations continue on Broad Peak, messages of concern are flowing in from the mountaineering community.

"It is heartbreaking to wake up to the distressing news from Broad Peak," reads a Facebook post by Lhakpa Sherpa, a famed climber who founded 8K Expeditions.

He said his thoughts were with Nirmal Purja, a "dear friend and brother" who has "elevated Nepal's mountaineering community to the global stage".

"I continue to pray for a miracle and the safe return," he wrote.

On online forums like Reddit, people are tracking Purja's location via data shared from his smartwatch - and exchanging messages of hope that he could still be found alive.

Carrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent

Image source, Moving Mountains/Instagram

We are starting to learn more about the climbers missing after an avalanche hit Broad Peak, the world's 12th highest mountain, yesterday.

Among them, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan, is Mallory Geis.

Mallory posted on her social media page in mid-June that she had new boots ready for what she called "her first big kid climbing expedition in Pakistan".

She is tagged in a post from a travel company, Moving Mountains. The post says that Mallory would be with Sohail Saki. This would be his last 8,000m peak in Pakistan, and Mallory’s first attempt, it added.

Saki, a Pakistani national, is also listed among the missing.

His social media page shows pictures of multiple previous climbs, including a post from 2025 of him summiting K2. On his descent, the post says, Saki helped bring down an injured mountain guide.

Preliminary reports indicate that four bodies have been recovered so far from Broad Peak, but their identities are not yet known, Gilgit-Baltistan police said in a statement on Facebook.

Authorities are still gathering information about the other climbers, the police said.

We'll bring you more updates as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

Nirmal Purja, a renowned climber who is among those missing on Broad Peak, has spent a large part of his life in the UK, where he's a naturalised citizen.

He joined the British Army in 2003, at age 18, and the Special Boat Service of the Royal Navy in 2009.

He followed in the footsteps of his father and elder brothers, who were all Gurkhas - a prominent group of Nepali soldiers who have served in the British Army for more than 200 years.

Purja also discovered a love for climbing during his 16 years in the British military.

His mountaineering achievements earned him an MBE, a civilian honour awarded for outstanding achievement, from Queen Elizabeth II in 2018.

A member of the Nepalese community in south England's Eastleigh Borough, Purja was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough in 2021 - the highest honour that can be given by the Eastleigh Borough Council.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The first successful ascent of Broad Peak was in 1957, when a four-member Austrian expedition reached the summit.

Since then, many more have climbed the 8,051m (26,414 ft) peak. And dozens have lost their lives to the mountain.

2013 marked one of Broad Peak's deadliest years, with at least six fatalities recorded.

That March, two Polish climbers - aged 27 and 58 - were declared dead after they went missing during their descent from the summit. A few months later three Iranian climbers suffered a similar fate, and a German climber died after she slipped and was swept away by a mountain stream.

China's foreign ministry has said it is urgently working to verify details of the situation at Broad Peak.

One Chinese national is among the 10 climbers who lost contact after an avalanche on Thursday.

The Chinese ministry has said it would provide help according to Pakistan's needs.

Pradeep Bashyal
BBC Nepali, Kathmandu

Besides Nirmal Purja, there are a few other big names among the missing climbers, including Pur Bahadur Gurung - also known as Yukta - and Kili Pemba Sherpa.

Yukta is certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), and is very close to completing the 14 peaks challenge, where climbers attempt to summit the world's 14 mountains that rise at least 8,000m above sea level.

Just last spring Yukta summited Nepal’s three "eight-thousanders", and by the end of that season had 10 Everest ascents and 12 eight-thousanders to his name.

He was also part of the team that discovered a century-old shoe with the inscription "A.C. Irvine", believed to be of British climber Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, who vanished on Everest with George Mallory in 1924.

Kili Pemba has so far summited Everest 15 times. In 2021 he was a member of a historic K2 winter expedition, alongwith several Nepali climbers including Nirmal Purja.

Kili Pemba is also the guide who led double amputee Xia Boyu to summit Everest in 2018. Xia, a Chinese climber, had lost both legs decades earlier while attempting to reach Everest's summit.

As the search operation is under way, GPS data from the missing climbers' trackers provide clues on what happened when the avalanche hit Broad Peak.

Samson Sharaf, the mentor of one of the 10 missing climbers, shared GPS data to industry website Climbing which indicate that the avalanche hit between 08:57 and 09:30 local time.

At that time, American climber Mallory Geis, according to her GPS tracker, descended by 543m (1,781ft) while Omani climber Nadhira Al Harthy decended by 1,651m (5,417ft).

Earlier, we reported that the tracking device belonging to Nirmal Purja had been showing movement.

Carrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The search-and-rescue operation looking for 10 climbers missing in the Karakorum mountains has detected the location of four of their trackers - although they cannot identify if the climbers they belong to are dead or alive, according to the General Secretary of Pakistan’s Alpine club.

The 10 climbers include renowned Nepal-born former British special forces soldier Nirmal Purja. All were climbing Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain, when an avalanche struck.

It is a nervous wait as rescuers try to reach the four climbers' location. Ayaz Shigri, general secretary of Pakistan Alpine Club, said that while the trackers had been located, there has been no movement from them.

The rescue operation continues with drones and a ground team. Military helicopters are also on the way, and currently at the K2 base camp, according to Shigri.

He estimated it to be a four-hour climb to reach the location of the four trackers with oxygen support. He hoped there would be more clarity by early evening, but said they did not know about the location of the other six climbers.

Broad Peak is the twelfth tallest mountain on Earth and the third tallest in the Karakoram Range. Its name comes from its unusually long summit ridge, which extends for about 2 kilometers.

There had been a total of 404 successful ascents of Broad Peak as of March 2012, while 21 climbers had died trying - a fatality rate of about 5 percent, said Nasa.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Local officials have told BBC Urdu that three trackers have been located at altitudes ranging from approximately 6,000m to 7,000m.

Mountaineers usually carry GPS tracking devices when they climb major peaks. In 2024, the Nepali government made it mandatory for Mount Everest climbers to carry such trackers.

Pradeep Bashyal
BBC Nepali, Kathmandu

Nepal’s Tourism Department has issued a statement saying it has instructed the country's embassy in Islamabad to coordinate with the Pakistan government in rescue efforts.

Despite reports of multiple bodies having been found, the Department did not confirm any deaths - naming the six Nepalis from the expedition as "missing".

Nepali companies based across several mountains in Pakistan are preparing to go to the scene and work with local authorities, it added.

Department spokesperson Himal Gautam told the BBC: "There is a significant presence of Nepali Sherpas and expedition companies who are coordinating among themselves."

"This is an unprecedented incident," Gautam added. "However, there are still some tiny hopes, with some conflicting information."

Medhavi Gulati, a researcher on Sherpa and high-altitude mountaineering who is a lecturer at Panjab University says Nepal’s Sherpas are the most efficient highly-skilled staff when it comes to professional guiding.

"Sherpas are highly preferred over local guides in because of their long history of high-altitude mountaineering and their professional training across diverse mountain environments."