In northern India, specifically in the village of Mana, Uttarakhand, a devastating avalanche early on Friday buried a team of eight road construction workers under snow. This incident, as reported by the Indian Army on Sunday, resulted in the deaths of these workers. Meanwhile, rescue teams managed to save 46 others from the same perilous situation amidst challenging weather conditions.

The incident occurred as the construction workers were at their camp site in Mana, an area known as a starting point for Himalayan trekking expeditions. Under extreme weather including continuous snowfall and rainfall, rescue operations were carried out with the aid of GPS technology, sniffer dogs, and thermal imaging cameras. The difficult weather also necessitated the coordination of disaster response teams, and there were instances when the rescue missions had to be halted.

Luckily, the rescued workers were airlifted by helicopters to hospitals in the nearby town of Joshimath, despite many of them being in critical condition. These workers are affiliated with the Border Roads Organization (BRO), a division of the Indian armed forces responsible for developing and maintaining infrastructure, particularly road networks, in the border areas of India.

Mana is situated at an altitude of 3,200 meters and is about 15 miles from the Tibetan border. It is common for the villager’s entire population to migrate to lower altitudes during the winter to escape the snowfall.

The state of Uttarakhand is notoriously vulnerable to both avalanches and floods. In 2013, Uttarakhand experienced one of its most severe natural disasters, with flooding leading to over a thousand deaths. More recently, in 2021, an avalanche at a BRO camp resulted in the loss of 11 lives in the same district as Mana.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/world/asia/india-avalanche.html