Uttarakhand avalanche: 14 more road construction workers rescued, 9 still trapped

Mangalore Today News Network

Uttarakhand, March 1, 2025: At least 14 more Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers were rescued from an avalanche in Mana, a high-altitude village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district.

Helicopter services have begun, with three injured people being evacuated to Military Hospital Joshimath.

Nine workers are still trapped, as per the Army.

Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel based in Mana have resumed the rescue operation.

The rescue operation continued on Saturday but was temporarily halted as night fell over the snow-covered terrain.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is also likely to visit the avalanche site.

According to a list released by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, the trapped labourers are 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 said on Friday that the task is challenging as there is seven feet of snow near the avalanche site.

More than 65 personnel are engaged in the rescue operations, he said.

Located three kilometres from Badrinath, Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.

Fifty-five BRO labourers were trapped under the avalanche on Friday and 33 of them were rescued.