Uttarakhand avalanche: Search operation resumes to trace 4 missing labourers

The search operation to trace four missing labourers at the site of an avalanche-hit BRO camp at Mana village of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district resumed on Sunday with the help of sniffer dogs and helicopters.

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Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari said the search operation is expected to gain pace as the weather is clear and a ground penetrating radar (GPR) system from Delhi is expected to arrive here any moment to aid the efforts.

An Mi-17 helicopter is waiting in Dehradun to fly the GPR system to the avalanche site, he said.

The avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath on Friday, burying 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed, the Army said.

The number of avalanche-hit labourers has been revised now from 55 to 54 as one of them from Himachal Pradesh, who was on unauthorised leave without telling his employers, has reached home safely.

Fifty labourers were pulled out of snow by Friday out of which four are dead.

Tiwari said the operation now is focused on tracing the missing workers and evacuating the workers still stranded.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams with sniffer dogs have arrived at the avalanche site to help in the search and rescue efforts, he said.