Uttarakhand Avalanche: 14 More BRO Workers Rescued, 8 Still Trapped | Latest Updates

Uttarakhand Avalanche: Rescue teams have recovered 14 more workers from the snow-covered Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Uttarakhand's Mana village, officials said on Saturday. However, eight workers are still trapped. A total of 55 workers were caught in the avalanche that struck the high-altitude camp between Mana and Badrinath early Friday morning. With the latest rescue, 47 people have been saved so far 33 by Friday night and 14 more on Saturday.

Heavy snowfall and rain had slowed down the operation on Friday, forcing rescuers to halt efforts overnight. However, as the weather improved on Saturday, helicopters were deployed to assist in the rescue.

District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi confirmed that Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) teams based in Mana resumed the search early in the morning. Despite challenging conditions, efforts are underway to locate and rescue the remaining eight workers who have now been trapped for over 24 hours.

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Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari stated that three critically injured workers, who were initially receiving treatment at the ITBP hospital in Mana, were airlifted to Jyotirmath Army Hospital for advanced medical care.

Uttarakhand | 14 civilians have been rescued and evacuted from avalanche site by Indian Army this morning. Search and rescue operations continuing for more than 24 hours. With slight respite in the weather, three injured personnel evacuated from Mana to Joshimath for critical… pic.twitter.com/46gJQYxq8B

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2025

Correcting the information shared earlier, Uttarakhand's Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman told news agency PTI it was found out that two of the 57 labourers feared trapped in the avalanche at the BRO camp were on leave and the actual number of workers trapped was 55.

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According to a list released by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, the trapped labourers were from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, among other states. The list has 10 labourers' names, without mentioning the states they belong to.

Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman stated on Friday that the situation remains complex, with approximately seven feet of snow covering the affected area. “More than 65 personnel are engaged in the rescue operations,” he added.

Mana, situated 3 km from Badrinath, is the last village before the Tibet border and stands at an altitude of 3,200 metres.

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