50 Rescued, 4 Dead in Uttarakhand

FIFTY workers were pulled out safely from the snow-covered debris of an avalanche that smashed a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Mana village in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, but the desperate search for survivors turned grim as four workers succumbed to injuries on Saturday even as rescuers raced against time to find five workers still unaccounted for.

- NARENDRA SETHI @Dehradun

The avalanche hit the camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday, burying 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed. Thirty-three of them were rescued by Friday night and 17 on Saturday. Rain and snowfall thwarted rescue efforts. As the weather cleared up on Saturday morning, the Army and ITBP personnel resumed operations, District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said. Six helicopters, including three of the Army aviation, two of air force and one civil copter hired by the Army were pressed into rescue efforts, Army PRO Lt Col Manish Shrivastava said.