Uttarakhand avalanche: 14 more rescued as site weather clears up, choppers likely to be roped in

Uttarakhand avalanche

14 civilians have been rescued and evacuted from avalanche site by Indian Army on March 1 in the high-altitude Mana village in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.

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 medicare through Indian Army-hired civil helicopters.

The nearest airstrip at Gauchar has been readied for the purpose, Chamoli District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said.

It is a little cloudy at the moment but once the weather becomes favourable, the helicopters will be pressed into service, he said.

Fifty-five Border Roads Organisation (BRO) labourers were trapped under the avalanche on Friday and 33 of them were rescued. Rain and snowfall hampered the rescue efforts and the operation was suspended as the night fell.

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

Dhami briefed PM Modi about the situation.

@narendramodi
Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) March 1, 2025

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.

More than 65 personnel are engaged in the rescue operations.

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

(With inputs from agencies)