8 bodies recovered, 384 workers rescued
Most of the trapped people were labourers working for construction of roads in Sumna area
DEHRADUN: Following the avalanche incident in the Niti Valley area of Chamoli district near Indo-China border on Friday, the Indian Army in its ongoing search and rescue operation rescued 384 people working with Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and recovered at least eight bodies so far till Saturday noon.
The search and rescue operation was initiated by the personnel of Indian Army’s Central Command under which the area of incident falls.
According to the BRO, the avalanche occurred on Friday at around 4pm and had hit one of its camp in the Sumna area in the very remote area near the Indo-China border at an altitude of over 11,000 ft.
Most of the trapped people were the labourers working under it for the construction of roads there.
Informing about the ongoing rescue operation, the Army’s Central Command thought its official Twitter handle stated, “384 BRO persons have been moved to safety while eight bodies trapped under the snow have been recovered from the two BRO camps in Sumna. Six critically injured have been evacuated for the required treatment. Air sorties are being attempted to assist medical evacuation.”
As soon as the incident was reported to the army base in the area, it had initiated the search and rescue operation on Friday evening braving extreme weather conditions till late night at 1.30.
“Till 1.30am, 291 BRO persons were brought to safety. The rescue
According to information received from the BRO, about 400 people got trapped in avalanche in remote Sumna area. So far 384 have been rescued by the army
TIRATH SINGH RAWAT , chief minister
operation had to be halted at night due to weather conditions,” stated the Army Central Command on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat conducted an aerial inspection of the area hit by the avalanche in Chamoli district to monitor the situation.
Rawat said, “As per the information received from the BRO, about 400 people got trapped in the avalanche in remote Sumna area. So far about 385 have been rescued by the army which is carrying out the rescue operation with all their efforts in the difficult conditions.”
“Some casualties have also been reported from there. Meanwhile, to assist the Army in the rescue operation, teams from National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police are also reaching there to speed up the rescue operation,” he said adding that the Chamoli district administration is also providing all possible help in it.
Meanwhile, informing more about the area of the incident, prominent geologist and director of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, MPS Bisht said, “According to the satellite images, the incident happened in the Upper Sumna area near Rimkhim Nala due to heavy snowfall in the past few days.”
“The place is approximately 25 kms upstream from Malari village in the tributary of Girthi Ganga river there,” said Bisht adding that, “In 1991-92 also an avalanche had happened in Sumna area which had hit the ITBP camp there. At that time, 11 ITBP jawans had died.”
Niti Valley is a remote valley near China border located at a height of over 11, 800 feet ft.