Uttarakhand Avalanche: Survivors recount horror as rescue ops continue
Mar 02, 2025
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 2 : Survivors on Sunday recounted the harrowing experience of being trapped under snow after an avalanche struck near Mana village near Badrinath in the Chamoli district Uttarakhand.
The avalanche, which hit a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp on Friday morning and 55 workers were trapped under snow. According to the Army the workers were inside eight containers and a shed.
A total of 50 were rescued before operations were halted on Saturday owing to snowfall.
On Sunday morning, the Indian Army said that the body of one more worker was retrieved. 
Vijay Pandey, one of the men who was rescued from the avalanche site admitted to Joshimath Army Hospital, said, "We were in the container when the avalanche hit us, and it swept the container away; we found ourselves in the snow. Nine of us were in the container, and out of which four are admitted here."
Another survivor said, "I had never seen anything like that in my entire life... Anyhow, a few of us managed to reach the BRO camp..."
One of the survivors recalled the intensity of the avalanche, saying, "It happened so suddenly that we didn't realise anything. All our containers were destroyed as it was a heavy storm, an avalanche. Anyhow, we managed to rush towards the army camp. What else could the Army and the government have done? The weather was so bad."
Earlier today, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said that the ongoing rescue operation had made significant progress as weather conditions remained favorable.
"The weather has supported us. A total of 54 BRO workers were reported missing. Out of them, 50 were rescued, while four lost their lives. Four people are still unaccounted for, and search operations are underway. We remain hopeful of finding them soon," he said.
Rescue teams continue to work on the ground, with efforts focused on locating the remaining missing individuals.
Earlier today a drone-based intelligent buried object detection system was airlifted by the Indian Air Force for deployment in search and rescue operations. Apart from this SDRF communication team from Joshimath left for the Shri Badrinath Dham with man pack repeater for the search and rescue of the missing BRO workers.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached the the Disaster Control Room in Dehradun, to review the rescue operation for the second consecutive day.
