SUMMARY
The avalanche had initially buried 57 men and 16 of them were pulled out safely. Mana, three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.
1 / 7The Indian Army commenced rescue ops images of which were shared with CNBC-TV18. The avalanche buried a camp of the Border Roads Organisation between Mana and Badrinath, Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari said as multiple teams battled tough terrain, heavy snow and rain to rescue the workers. There was no immediate news of any casualties. (Image: Indian Army)
2 / 7Around 41 Border Roads Organisation (BRO) labourers working to clear snow near the high-altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district were trapped under an avalanche on Friday (February 28). The avalanche had initially buried 57 men and 16 of them were pulled out safely. Mana, three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres. (Image: Indian Army)
3 / 7The 57 labourers were at the camp when the avalanche struck between Mana and Mana pass in the morning, Tiwari said. “These labourers do regular snow clearing work on the route for army movement towards the Tibet border… As of now we have no news of any casualties. Rescue teams have been mobilised. But due to active snowfall and rain in the area, rescue work is slow,” he added. (Image: Indian Army)
4 / 7Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF had left for the spot, about 300 km from the state capital Dehradun, amid continuing snowfall and rain. “Out of the 57 BRO labourers trapped in the avalanche, 16 have been rescued. Efforts are on to rescue the remaining. The help of ITBP and other departments is being taken in the rescue operations. Our disaster management department and the entire administration is fully alert,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told reporters. (Image: Indian Army)
5 / 7“Our effort is to rescue all safely as soon as possible,” he said Officials had been on alert for bad weather and its possible impact. The Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) in Chandigarh had issued an avalanche warning for a period of 24 hours at 5 pm on Thursday for places located above 2,400 metres in Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts. (Image: Indian Army)
6 / 7The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday said it has rushed four teams to Uttarakhand’s border district of Chamoli where 41 BRO labourers have been trapped under an avalanche. NDRF Director General (DG) Piyush Anand told PTI that apart from these teams, another four units have been kept on standby. (Image: PTI)
7 / 7An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force spokesperson said a “heavy landslide” hit a civil workers’ camp along Mana GST road at 5 am amid continuous snowfall. “ITBP and Army rescue teams swiftly launched rescue operations, evacuating 10 injured workers who are now receiving treatment at the medical facilities of the two forces. (Image: PTI)
