At least four Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers were killed and as many are still missing after a devastating avalanche struck near Mana village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on February 28.
As per the updated information provided by Chamoli District Magistrate, 54 BRO workers were trapped in the avalanche, and of them, 50, including four dead, have been rescued as the search is on for the missing four others.
Survivors, many of whom are currently admitted at the Joshimath Army Hospital, recalled the horror after the sudden force of nature left them scrambling for their lives.
Speaking to a news agency, Manoj Bhandari, one of the survivors, recounted the terrifying moments. “It happened so suddenly that we didn’t realise anything. All our containers were destroyed as there 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.”
“I had never seen anything like that in my entire life… Anyhow, a few of us managed to reach the BRO camp…” Bhandari added.
Another survivor, Vijay Pandey, described how the avalanche swept away their containers.
“We were in the container when the avalanche hit us, and it swept the container away; we found ourselves in the snow; 9 of us were in the container, 4 of them are admitted here,” he said.
Meanwhile, rescue operations are ongoing as authorities continue to search for the four missing workers.