More than 50 workers were submerged under snow and debris after an avalanche struck a construction camp in Uttarakhand.
Rescuers have recovered eighth and final bodies from avalanche locations in remote northern India, saying the Army marks the end of a marathon operation at sub-zero temperatures.
More than 50 workers were submerged under snow and debris after an avalanche struck a construction camp near Mana village on the Tibet border in Uttarakhand, Himalayas.
Authorities corrected the number of workers on the site during avalanches of 55 to 54 after it was discovered that one worker previously believed to have been buried had safely returned home before the avalanches were attacked.
By Saturday, rescuers managed to pull out 50 people, but the four later succumbed to injuries, according to a statement from the Indian Army.
By Sunday, rescuers had recovered the remaining bodies, the Army said, adding that they had used a drone-based detection system and rescue dogs to assist in search operations.
Many of the trapped people were migrant workers working on a highway expansion project that would cover a 50km (31 miles) stretch from Mana to Mana Pass, the last Indian village before the Chinese border.
They lived on the site in steel containers that were considered stronger than tents and could withstand harsh weather.
As the ground beneath them shook, the container where Anil, a construction worker, and his colleagues, were started to slip.
“In the beginning, I didn’t understand what was going on, but when I looked out the window of the container, Anil, 20, told AFP News Agency.
He said the container roof was bent inwards.
“The way we were covered in snow didn’t want to survive,” he said, adding that he felt alive was “like a dream.”
His colleague Vipan Kumar struggled with the air under a thick layer of snow and when he realized he couldn’t move, he thought, “This is the end.”
“I heard a loud roar like thunder… everything went dark before I could react,” he told The Times of India newspaper.
The ecologically vulnerable Himalayan regions affected by global warming are prone to avalanches and flash floods.
In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand when a huge clump of glacier fell into the river and caused flash floods.
The devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people, allowing them to ask for a review of the state’s development projects.
In 2022, an avalanche killed 27 trainee climbers in Uttarakhand, and a glacier that burst in 2021 caused flash floods, killing more than 200 people.
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