DEHRADUN: Rescue teams in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday recovered all the bodies of workers who went missing after an avalanche struck a BRO camp in Mana village on Friday, raising the death toll to eight. With this, the relief operation has been completed.
The Army has been conducting the search operations using Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) brought in from Delhi along with the help of sniffer dogs, thermal imaging cameras and helicopters. Three army units were deployed for patrolling and search efforts.
Lt. Col. Manish Shrivastava, PRO (Defence) in Dehradun, said, "The bodies of all four missing workers were recovered from the snow by 4 PM on Sunday following extensive search efforts and herculean rescue operations."
Sunday's rescue efforts began with the recovery of a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) worker’s body, followed by two more. Later, the final missing worker’s body was also recovered.
Rescue teams began the operations on Sunday aiming to locate three missing containers where the laborers were staying. "Five containers have been traced, but three remain unaccounted for due to snow depths exceeding six feet," said District Disaster Management Officer Nand Kishore Joshi had said.
Speaking to TNIE, State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman stated, "The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) played a crucial role in expediting search and rescue operations with the use of thermal imaging cameras, victim locating cameras, avalanche rods, and dog squads. These resources significantly contributed to the timely completion of relief and rescue efforts."
"Among the deceased are four individuals from Uttar Pradesh: Jitendra Singh, Manjeet Yadav, Alok Yadav, and Ashok Paswan. Additionally, Mahender Pal from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and Ramesh Chand from Una have also lost their lives. From Uttarakhand, Anil Kumar from Udham Singh Nagar and Arvind Kumar Singh from Clement Town in Dehradun are among the victims," said Secretary Suman.
The avalanche, which hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5.30 am and 6 am on Friday, buried 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed.
Thirty-three of them were rescued by Friday night and 17 on Saturday. Rain and snowfall had thwarted rescue efforts.
The number of avalanche-hit labourers had also been revised from 55 to 54 as one of them from Himachal Pradesh, who was on unauthorised leave without telling his employers, has reached home safely.
"The sudden avalanche left the workers with no time to react, burying them under a massive pile of snow," a disaster management official said.
"On the first day alone, we managed to rescue around 32 workers," an official said. By Saturday morning, 14 more were rescued, while four bodies were recovered, the official added.
Army doctors said 46 workers were brought to the military hospital in Joshimath, while one with a spinal chord injury was airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh. Three of them are critical, Lt Col DS Maldhya said.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had visited the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre to review the rescue operation following the avalanche.
The ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system was sent to the site, and modern tools like thermal imaging cameras and victim-locating cameras were used to trace the missing labourers. Officials had aimed to complete the search before the weather deteriorated on Monday.
In a post on X, Dhami said he had instructed officials to expedite the operation. "The Indian Army, ITBP, NDRF, SDRF, and other relief and rescue teams worked on a war footing at the site of the incident," he said.
Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari stated that an Mi-17 helicopter had been on standby in Dehradun to transport the GPR system to the avalanche site.
Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with sniffer dogs, had reached the site to assist in the search and rescue efforts.
Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, GOC-in-C, Central Command, and Lt Gen D G Mishra, GOC, Uttar Bharat, were at the site to monitor the operations.
Six helicopters—three from the Indian Army Aviation Corps, two from the Indian Air Force (IAF), and a civil chopper hired by the Army—were engaged in the rescue efforts.
Located three kilometres from Badrinath, Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.