Uttarakhand avalanche: Last worker's body found, death count rises to 8; rescue operation ends

Key Highlights of the Operation:

• 46 survivors safely rescued and are under medical care.
• 8 casualties, with the final body recovered today.
• Operations carried out in extreme weather conditions.
• Sniffer dogs and thermal imaging technology played a crucial role in locating trapped individuals.

Uttarakhand avalanche

Avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying 54 workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army.  Eight workers died while 46 of them are receiving treatment for their injuries after they were pulled out safely following a multi-agency rescue operation.

Uttarakhand CM surveyed the site

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami did an aerial survey of the avalanche-hit site and reviewed the relief-and-rescue operations at Jyotirmath. Army sniffer dogs have been deployed and three teams of the Army are patrolling the area, the chief minister said. 

More than 200 personnel from the disaster management authority, ITBP, BRO, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, IAF, district administration, health department and fire brigade are engaged in the rescue operations, he added.

'Ate snow when thirsty', BRO worker shared his ordeal

BRO worker Jagbir Singh shared the horror of Avalanche and told PTI that when he regained his consciousness, he was next to a dead co-worker, his body stuck inside mounds of snow with a fractured leg and injuries to his head. Singh saw a hotel some distance away and took shelter in it for around 25 harrowing hours, eating snow when thirsty and battling piercing cold with only a single blanket to share with over a dozen of his companions.