On Sunday, four additional bodies were discovered at the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) project site in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, following an avalanche that occurred on Friday. This unfortunate event has raised the total number of fatalities to eight, as four bodies were previously recovered on Saturday. At the time of the avalanche, there were 54 workers present at the site, where the containers serving as their living quarters were buried. Fortunately, 46 workers were successfully rescued. A total of eight helicopters, comprising five from the Army, two from the Air Force, and one civilian helicopter contracted by the Army, have facilitated the evacuation of all rescued individuals from Mana Post, located near the avalanche site, to Joshimath Military Hospital.
The State Disaster Management Authority reported that out of the 46 workers who were rescued, 44 have been admitted to the military hospital in Joshimath, where they are currently in stable condition. The SDMA confirmed that adequate medical arrangements have been established for their treatment, ensuring that all their needs are being met. Additionally, two workers are receiving care at AIIMS Rishikesh, and their health is showing improvement.
Earlier on Sunday, while the search efforts were still in progress, Lt Colonel Manish Srivastava discussed the advanced technology being utilized in the operation. He noted that a drone-based "intelligent buried object detection system" had been airlifted from Delhi and transported to Joshimath via Dehradun using an MI-17 helicopter to aid in the search and rescue efforts. Furthermore, the Army deployed five quadcopters and three mini drones to enhance the search operations.
The eight deceased individuals have been identified as Mohinder Pal and Harmesh Chand from Himachal Pradesh; Jitender Singh, Manjeet Yadav, Alok Yadav, and Ashok Paswan from Uttar Pradesh; and Anil Kumar and Arvind Kumar Singh from Uttarakhand.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)