Four trapped BRO workers die in Badrinath avalanche; 50 recovered, 5 missing
Rescue teams are trying to locate five remaining trapped workers, officials said.A still image shows what the Indian Army says is a rescue operation by Indian Army members during heavy snowfall, after an avalanche struck a camp near Mana village, in a location given as Garhwal Sector, Uttarakhand state, India, in this image released on February 28, 2025. REUTERS
Four BRO construction workers who were trapped under an avalanche at Mana Village near Badrinath in Uttarakhand have died, even as rescue operation launched jointly by Indian Army, ITBP, BRO and Indian Air Force rescued 46 other workers on Saturday.
Rescue teams are trying to locate five remaining trapped workers.
Although Uttarakhand government is yet to confirm the workers’ deaths Indian Army PRO lieutenant colonel Manish Shrivastava said “In the latest update as if now it has been confirmed that 50 persons have been rescued so far.
“Unfortunately four injured persons have been confirmed as fatal casualty. The injured are being prioritised for evacuation. The search operation led by the army is underway to save the balance five persons.”
Shrivastava added “The avalanche rescue operation is currently underway led by the Indo-Bhutan Expeditionary Brigade (IBEX Brigade) of Indian Army. A total of six helicopters are deployed for the evacuation as the road is blocked.
The helicopters include three Cheetah helicopters from Indian Army Aviation, two cheetah helicopters from Indian Air Force, and one civil helicopter hired by the Indian army.”
It is notable that The IBEX Brigade of Indian army is a specialised unit trained mainly for high-altitude and mountainous operations.
Earlier Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an ariel survey of the avalanche site and took stock of the rescue works on the ground. He informed that instead of earlier stated figure of 57, strength of workers trapped under the avalanche was 55.
Chief minister said “There were 55 workers when avalanche occurred on Friday and 33 of them were rescued till late night. They were taken to safe places and hospitals. As rescue operation continued 17 more trapped workers were saved today. Rescue work has become very challanging due to heavy snowfall in that area. Helipad at Mana is covered under a heap of snow.”
“There is complete power breakdown in five blocks near Badrinath. More than 200 hundred people belonging to Indian, Army, BRO, ITBP, SDRF, Indian Air Force, Fire Service, Disaster Management, state health department and state police are engaged in rescue operation. Of the rescued workers 23 were airlifted and shifted to the army hospital at Joshimath town” said Dhami.
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