BRO camp buried in Uttarakhand avalanche, warning was issued on Thursday evening – Top updates | India News

An avalanche hit Uttarakhand’s Mana village in Chamoli district on Friday.

NEW DELHI: At least 57 labourers were trapped under an avalanche on Friday in the border village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district when they were working to clear the snow. Chamoli district magistrate Sandeep Tiwari said there was no immediate news of any casualty as multiple rescue teams were pulling out the labourers stuck in snow. Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, chief minister Pushkar Dhami issued statements assuring that all possible assistance to the affected is being extended.
Avalanche warning was issued on Thursday
Officials had been on alert for bad weather as the Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment in Chandigarh issued an avalanche warning on Thursday evening for a period of 24 hours. The alert was for places located above 2,400 metres in Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts. The MeT office in Dehradun, on Friday morning, predicted isolated heavy rain and snowfall in locations situated at 3,500 metres and above.
15 rescued, rest still missing
The district magistrate said heli services have not been deployed because of the inclement weather and since satellite phones and other such equipment are not available there, no clear communication was established with the rescuers. But there was no news of any casualty as 15 labourers were rescued.
BRO labourers were doing regular snow-cleaning
The district magistrate said the 57 labourers were at the camp when the avalanche struck between Mana and Manna pass. They were doing their regular snow-clearing work on the route for Army movement towards the Tibet border.
Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border — three kilometres from Badrinath.
Landslides in Himachal Pradesh, roads blocked
As heavy snowfall and rains hit parts of north India, Himachal Pradesh saw landslides on Friday leading to key roads and national highways getting blocked. About 200 roads have been closed due to heavy snowfall across the state, cutting off several areas in Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba and Shimla districts from the rest of the state, officials said.