Uttarakhand Avalanche Latest: 8 Dead, Rescue Operation Complete
The Army recovered the body of the eighth and last worker missing in the avalanche at Mana village, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, on Sunday afternoon, bringing the rescue operation to a close, officials announced. Three more bodies were recovered earlier in the day as search teams pressed on to find the final missing worker.
“All 54 individuals have now been rescued or recovered, marking the culmination of the Mana Village Rescue Operation,” said Lt Col Manish Shrivastava, PRO (Defence), Dehradun, as reported by ANI. Chamoli Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Abhishek Gupta confirmed the final death toll to PTI, stating, “Following the avalanche in Joshimath block, we received seven bodies from the administration. One body was found yesterday, and six were recovered today.
Postmortem examinations have been completed, and the necessary documents have been submitted to the police. The police have taken possession of all bodies.
#WATCH | Haridwar, Uttarakhand | On the Mana (Chamoli) avalanche incident, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says, “I can say with great satisfaction that most of the people have been rescued and the search for the rest is ongoing… Uttarakhand is a disaster-prone state;… pic.twitter.com/uQBlc51A2o
— ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2025
” The search operation, which recommenced Sunday morning, focused on locating four workers thought to be buried under the snow after the avalanche at a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) project site on February 28. With the recovery of the eighth body, the death toll rose to eight. The bodies of the BRO workers were airlifted to the Joshimath military hospital. Over the past two days, rescue operations were conducted by the Army, ITBP, Air Force, NDRF, and SDRF personnel, with the SDRF using victim-locating and thermal imaging cameras.
A Drone-Based Intelligent Buried Object Detection System was deployed at the avalanche site in Mana to assist with the search. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed satisfaction with the rescue efforts, acknowledging the challenges posed by Uttarakhand’s disaster-prone environment and praising the government’s response. Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari clarified that the initial report of 55 trapped workers was inaccurate, as one individual was on unauthorized leave and safe at home, bringing the correct total to 54. “Yesterday, doctors confirmed four deaths,” he added.
