Two days after a devastating avalanche took place in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, Indian Army recovered body of last missing worker in the avalanche which hit near Mana village, ANI reported Army officials as saying on Sunday.
With this, the death toll in the avalanche has gone up to eight. The bodies recovered on Sunday is being brought to Mana post as per PRO (Defence), Dehradun.
Addressing the media, Lt Col Manish Shrivastava, PRO (Defence) Dehradun said, as quoted by ANI, “The last missing person's body has been found. All the 54 persons have been rescued/recovered. The recovery marks the culmination of Mana Village Rescue Operation.”
Meanwhile, at least 51 workers were rescued from the avalanche-hit site in Mana village.
The army brought Drone-Based Intelligent Buried Object Detection System to Joshimath to speed up the search and rescue operations. They will send these DIBODS will now be sent to the avalanche site in Mana, where three people are still missing.
51 rescued, 6 die:
Earlier on Friday, 54 Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers were trapped, out of which 51 have been rescued, out of which 6 lost their lives, whereas three people are still missing.
The search and rescue operation for the missing workers is ongoing, with multiple forces, including the Army, ITBP, Air Force, NDRF, and SDRF, working collaboratively to provide assistance, Uttarakhand chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Sunday.
He added that ground-penetrating radar, thermal imaging cameras, and victim-locating cameras are being utilised to locate the missing workers.
He mentioned that weather conditions in the area are improving, but the possibility of avalanches remains high, prompting authorities to halt work in high-altitude areas as a precaution.
Chamoli District Magistrate, Sandeep Tiwari, said on Sunday, as ANI quoted, "Yesterday, doctors have confirmed four deaths. Earlier, the total number was 55, but now we have the information that one of the workers was on unauthorised leave, and he is home. The total number has been reduced to 54, out of which four people are still missing..."
According to Indian Air Force officials, a Mi-17 helicopter airlifted the drone-based Intelligent Buried Object detection system for search operations today in the avalanche-affected areas in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.
IAF Cheetah helicopters have been engaged in rescue operations in the Mana area of Chamoli since Saturday in the avalanche that happened at the BRO camp near Mana village in Joshimath on February 28.
