Netflix star Nirmal Purja among 10 missing after Pakistan avalanche, four bodies found

Four bodies have been found after an avalanche hit a party of 10 people in Pakistan, including a famous climber and mountaineer.

The expedition of 10 people went missing after the avalanche on July 30, and a co-ordinated search and rescue effort is currently underway to locate the missing people.

Tragically, rescuers have since located four bodies believed to be members of the party, and efforts are now underway to recover the bodies.

Among those in the party was Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal 'Nims' Purja MBE, who is also known as Nimsdai.

Purja is renowned for featuring in programs on Netflix, including the documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.

Prior to featuring in the Netflix documentary, Purja served for 16 years in the British armed forces, 10 of which were in the UK's special forces.

A member of the Gurkhas, Purja became the first Gurkha to make it through the selection service for the SBS, that's the Special Boat Service, the marine counterpart to the SAS.

Purja achieved world fame by climbing the 14 mountains around the world which are over 8,000 metres in just six months and six days, and it was this astonishing feat which was the subject of the Netflix documentary.

Nirmal Purja is among those missing (Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Purja's reputation places him as one of the most respected and renowned high-altitude climbers in the world.

Five Nepali climbers were also in the expedition, named as Pur Bahadur Gurung 'Yukta', Kili Pemba Sherpa 'Kilu', Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa.

There was also climber Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy from Oman, Sohail Sakhi from Pakistan, Mallory Geis from the US, Wang Zhong from China, as well as another climber who has not been named.

An urgent search and rescue effort was launched after the expedition lost communication in the aftermath of the avalanche.

In a statement shared on social media, Irfan Arshad, the head of Alpine Club of Pakistan, confirmed that four bodies have been found.

“Four bodies have been found by the ground rescue team so far,” he wrote.

The identities of the four bodies which have been discovered by rescuers have not yet been made public.

Ten climbers were in the party at the time of the avalanche (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Speaking to the Daily Express, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign affairs said: "The Ministry has received assurances from the Pakistani authorities that they would mobilize all available resources for timely search and rescue operations."

In a statement shared with the BBC, spokesperson for Nepal's Tourism Department Himal Gautam called the tragedy an 'unprecedented incident'.

He said: "There is a significant presence of Nepali Sherpas and expedition companies who are coordinating among themselves."

Gautam added: "However, there are still some tiny hopes, with some conflicting information."

GOS data from the expedition indicates that the avalanche happened between 8:57am and 9.30am.

This was at around 6,579 metres elevation, approximately 21,580 feet, and happened on the standard West Ridge Route between Camp II and Camp III.

At the moment of the avalanche, a GPS tracker belonging to US climber Mallory Geis registered a rapid descent of 543 metres, and another belonging to Nadhira Al Harthy indicated a sudden descent of 1,651 metres.