Fifty workers have been pulled out of snow from the site of an avalanche-hit Border Road Organisation camp in the Mana village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, but four of them died as rescuers raced against time to save the remaining five.
The avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army.
Thirty-three of them were rescued by Friday night and 17 on Saturday.
Rain and snowfall hampered the rescue efforts on Friday, and the operation was suspended as the night fell.
As the weather cleared up on Saturday morning, the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel based in Mana resumed the rescue operation, District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said.
According to report by news agency PTI, Six helicopters, including three of the Indian Army Aviation, two of the air force and one civil copter hired by the Army, have been engaged in the operation, Army PRO Lt Col Manish Shrivastava said.
Located three kilometres from Badrinath, Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.
“Fifty labourers have been rescued out of which, unfortunately, four injured have been confirmed as fatal casualties while the search for the remaining five is underway,” Lt Col Shrivastava said, adding the injured were being prioritised for evacuation.
Army officials said the rescue operation was being carried out mostly by the Army and IAF helicopters as the approach road had been blocked by snow at several points, making vehicular movement nearly impossible.
The priority is to bring the rescued workers to the Army hospital in Jyotrimath and look for the five workers still missing, they said.
Officials said 24 people were brought to the Army Hospital with injuries and one of them has been sent to AIIMS-Rishikesh.
According to the Army PRO, Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta GOC-in C Central Command and Lt Gen D G Mishra GOC Uttar Bharat have reached the avalanche site to monitor the rescue operations.
