50 Workers Trapped in Uttarakhand Avalanche, 8 Bodies Recovered After Rescue Operation
Uttarakhand, India, March 2, 2025 — Following an avalanche at a construction camp in India’s Uttarakhand state, rescuers have recovered the final body, marking the end of a prolonged rescue operation. A total of eight bodies have been recovered. The Indian Army stated that the sub-zero temperatures since the avalanche made the rescue efforts extremely challenging.
On Friday, the avalanche struck a construction camp near Mana village in the northern Himalayan region, where more than 50 workers were trapped under the snow. Authorities later revised the number of workers on-site from 55 to 54 after discovering one worker had safely returned home before the avalanche struck.
By Saturday, rescuers had managed to pull out 50 people, but four later succumbed to their injuries, according to an Indian Army statement.
By Sunday, rescue teams had recovered the remaining bodies. The army mentioned that they used drone-based detection systems and rescue dogs to assist in the operations. Many of the trapped workers were migrant laborers working on a 50-kilometer road expansion project from Mana to Mana Pass.
One of the rescued workers, Anil, said, “At first, we didn’t understand what was happening, but when we looked out of the window of the containers, we saw piles of snow all around.” He added, “After being engulfed in snow, we had no hope of surviving, but now being alive feels like a dream.”
The avalanche-hit area is increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, exacerbated by global warming. In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand when a massive glacier fell into a river, triggering flash floods. In 2013, devastating monsoon floods and landslides claimed 6,000 lives. Additionally, in 2022, an avalanche killed 27 trainee mountaineers in Uttarakhand.
