Celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company said yesterday. “Today it is with profound sadness and immense heartbreak that we confirm that Nirmal ‘Nimsdai’ Purja tragically lost his life following the avalanche on Broad Peak,” his expedition organising company Elite Exped said in an Instagram post. Purja, 43, and nine others had been missing since Thursday after being struck by an avalanche on the 8,051-metre (26,414-foot) Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain, a technically difficult climb in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. He became widely known internationally after the Netflix documentary chronicling his journey “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible” was released two years later. “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down,” he wrote.