At least 25 road construction workers remain unaccounted for following a devastating avalanche in a remote border region of Uttarakhand, northern India. The incident occurred near the village of Mana, which borders Tibet, and struck a camp operated by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), according to local officials.
Ongoing rescue operations face severe weather challenges
Senior district official Sandeep Tiwari confirmed that 32 workers had been successfully rescued and relocated to a nearby army camp. Efforts to locate those still missing are actively underway, but rescuers are contending with harsh weather conditions, including heavy snowfall.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami shared updates on X, indicating that the rescue operations are being coordinated by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the BRO, and various other emergency response teams. Despite the deployment of ambulances and emergency personnel, the treacherous conditions continue to hinder rescue efforts.
Local insights and weather alerts
Footage posted on social media by the ITBP captures rescuers painstakingly transporting individuals on stretchers through deep snow, highlighting the challenging circumstances as more snowfall continues. Colonel Ankur Mahajan, a BRO commander, mentioned that while those rescued are receiving medical attention, the severity of their injuries remains uncertain.
Gaurav Kunwar, a former village council member of Mana, provided context to the situation, stating, “No-one lives there permanently. It’s a migratory area and only labourers working on border roads stay there in the winter. There’s also some army presence there. We’ve heard that it has been raining in the area for two days. The road workers were in a camp when the avalanche hit.”
Amidst these developments, the India Meteorological Department has issued warnings for heavy rainfall and snowfall across several northern states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir. Orange alerts have been announced for potential heavy snowfall in various districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.