As many as 32 labourers were rescued late Friday night after 57 got trapped as a massive avalanche struck a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp near Mana, nearly 6 km north of Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The snowslide, which buried the BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath, rolled down early on Friday morning. The avalanche was preceded by two mild snowslides. Multiple teams battled through tough terrain, heavy snow and icy temperatures through the day to reach the men.
Visuals from Mana showed rescuers trudging through high piles of snow in a grim landscape bathed in white. They initially pulled out 10 workers and then the others, sources said. Four of those rescued are reported to be in a critical condition, the Army said.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, in a post on X on Friday evening, confirmed that 32 labourers had been rescued and that efforts were underway on a “war footing” to save the remaining 25.
Brig Mandeep Singh, Commander of the Joshimath-based Ibex Brigade of the Army, reported that the road between Joshimath and Mana had been blocked due to the avalanche. “A 200-member Army team has been deployed for rescue operation. Despite harsh weather conditions and continuous snowfall, the rescue is underway. Efforts are also on to clear the road to extricate the injured and deploy additional rescue teams,” he said.
Brigadier Singh added that Army doctors at the site had performed critical life-saving surgeries on the severely injured. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Dhami and assured that local Army units were providing all possible assistance to those affected. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to CM Dhami and assured that the government’s priority was to safely evacuate those trapped.
“Two teams of the NDRF are also reaching the spot soon,” he said. Villagers in Mana said the site of the accident was considered vulnerable to avalanches in winter and the BRO camp was usually closed. “This time the camp was not closed due to lack of snowfall due to which they became victims of the avalanche,” Mana village headman Pitambar Singh said. Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said the situation was critical with the containers buried under six to seven feet of snow. The bad weather continued.