Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], March 2– The body of another individual missing in the avalanche near Mana village in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has been recovered by the Army, an official confirmed on Sunday. This brings the death toll to five, with efforts still underway to locate the remaining three missing persons.
The body recovered today is being transported to the Mana post, according to a statement from the PRO (Defence) in Dehradun. The ongoing search and rescue operation is being carried out by a multi-agency team, including the Army, ITBP, Air Force, NDRF, and SDRF, working together to locate the missing workers.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami informed the media this morning that advanced tools like ground-penetrating radar, thermal imaging cameras, and victim-locating devices are being deployed in the search. While weather conditions in the area have shown signs of improvement, the risk of further avalanches remains high, leading authorities to suspend work in high-altitude areas as a safety measure.
Chamoli District Magistrate, Sandeep Tiwari, clarified earlier today that four fatalities were confirmed by doctors yesterday. He also noted that while the initial count of people affected by the incident was 55, one worker was found to be on unauthorized leave and is currently safe at home, reducing the total number of people involved to 54. Of these, four remain unaccounted for.
Indian Air Force officials shared that a Mi-17 helicopter deployed a drone-based Intelligent Buried Object detection system in the affected areas on Sunday to aid in the search efforts. IAF Cheetah helicopters have also been active in the Mana area since Saturday, assisting in the ongoing operations following the avalanche that struck the BRO camp near Mana village in Joshimath on February 28.