By Prachi Mishra
The rescue teams have yet again saved 14 more workers while eight persons remain trapped. Avalanche is said to have hit the high-altitude village of Mana in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The update has been confirmed by officials quoting news agency PTI on Saturday.
Sixty-five BRO (Border Roads Organization) workers were buried under the avalanche on Friday, while 33 were rescued by Friday night, and on Saturday morning, 14 more workers were saved.
Uttarakhand Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said that two of the workers were on leave, hence the adjusted total number of trapped workers is 55, replacing the earlier figure of 57.
The list of trapped workers has been released by Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority and details workers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. But 10 more names are, however, not specified for the states.
Suman stated that the job of rescuing the men was difficult since snow of about seven feet had settled near the avalanche site, and more than 65 personnel were still working to pull the others out in the harsh conditions.
The avalanche engulfing the BRO camp on Friday morning somewhere in the Mana-Badrinath area soon developed into a rescue mission. With trained rescuers trekking through hazardous terrain with dense snow and bone-chilling cold to reach the stranded laborers, ten workers were saved in the first wave of rescue, while others were subsequently rescued.
In the statements of the Army, the burial of workers was inside eight containers and the shed owing to the snowslide amidst 5:30 AM to 6:00 AM. Immediately following that, over 100 personnel from the Ibex Brigade, specialized in high-altitude rescues, were called in. The teams also had medics and ambulances.
Injury of four of the rescued persons had been stated by the PRO of the Army. Located at 3,200 meters, Mana is at a distance of 3 kilometers from Badrinath; this is the last Indian village just before the Tibet border. Images from the site show the rescuers trudging through thick snow, engulfed in an expanse of white.
Adverse weather and the prospect of further avalanche activity have halted rescue operations. Two little slides occurred since the initial one, raising some stakes. Critical situation was emphasized by Suman since six to seven feet of snow was covering the containers.
With uninterrupted communication with the site officials for quicker initiation of works, the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami from his residence is supervising the ongoing rescue and clearance operations.