Key points
- Police say 55 workers buried initially
- Avalanche hit Border Roads Organisation camp
- Rescue continues amid heavy snowfall
DEHRADUN, India: At least 25 road workers remain trapped after a massive avalanche struck a remote border area in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials say.
Senior district official Sandeep Tiwari said that 32 workers had been rescued and moved to an army camp nearby.
The avalanche hit a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in the village of Mana, which shares a border with Tibet, BBC reported, quoting officials.
Heavy snowfall
Officials said rescue operations were continuing in extreme weather amid heavy snowfall.
Search teams in northern India on Saturday attempted to rescue 22 workers believed to be trapped after an avalanche hit a remote border area, officials and local media said.
The workers were buried under snow and debris after the avalanche hit a construction camp near a village on the border with Tibet in Chamoli district on Friday.
Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said “relief and rescue operations have been accelerated” with the weather in the area clearing up.
“Every effort is being made to safely evacuate all the workers trapped in the snow as soon as possible,” Dhami said in a post on X.
माणा के निकट हुए हिमस्खलन में फंसे हुए श्रमिकों को निकालने के लिए चलाए जा रहे राहत एवं बचाव अभियान के क्रम में 14 अन्य श्रमिकों को भी सकुशल बाहर निकाल लिया गया है। बाहर निकाले गए श्रमिकों को बेहतर स्वास्थ्य सुविधाएं प्रदान की जा रही हैं। गंभीर रूप से घायल 3 श्रमिकों को आर्मी… pic.twitter.com/z1I0aTjUsL
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) March 1, 2025
Police said the snow buried 55 workers initially.
AFP reported that army doctors at the site performed life-saving surgery on those critically injured.
Mana village, which shares a border with Tibet, was deserted after residents moved to lower altitudes to escape the extreme weather, The Indian Express newspaper reported.
Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season.
Weather events more severe
Scientists have said that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.
The increased pace of development in the fragile Himalayan regions has also heightened fears about the fallout from deforestation and construction.
In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand after a huge glacier chunk fell into a river, triggering flash floods.
Devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people and led to calls for a review of development projects in the state.
