The nearly 60-hour rescue operation at the avalanche-hit Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Chamoli ended on Sunday with the recovery of the last four trapped labourers, bringing the total number of fatalities to eight. According to Army officials, 46 workers who were rescued on Saturday have been shifted to the military hospital in Jyotirmath. Two of them have been referred to AIIMS Rishikesh, while three are in critical condition, Lt Col DS Maldhya confirmed.

Defence PRO Lt Col Manish Shrivastava stated that the retrieval of the last missing worker marked the completion of the Mana Village rescue operation. Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari added that out of the 54 labourers trapped in the avalanche, 46 were rescued alive, while eight lost their lives. The avalanche struck the BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath on Friday, burying the workers inside eight containers and a shed. Initial reports suggested that 55 workers were trapped, but one was later found safe after being on unauthorized leave.

A massive multi-agency rescue effort involving over 200 personnel from the disaster management authority, ITBP, BRO, NDRF, SDRF, IAF, district administration, health department, and fire brigade was launched. The operation was carried out under extreme weather conditions for the first two days, with helicopters, sniffer dogs, and thermal imaging technology aiding in the search.

The last recovered body belonged to 43-year-old Arvind Kumar Singh from Dehradun’s Clement Town. The other victims identified on Sunday were Anil Kumar (21) from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, Ashok (28) from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Harmesh from Una in Himachal Pradesh. Their remains were flown to Jyotirmath for post-mortem.

Senior military officials, including Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta and Lt Gen DG Mishra, supervised the rescue operation at the site. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the State Emergency Operation Centre to review the efforts. Expressing concern over the changing weather, CM Dhami emphasized the urgency of completing the rescue by Sunday.

He commended the Indian Army, ITBP, NDRF, SDRF, and other teams for their relentless efforts, stating that operations were carried out on a "war footing." Six helicopters—three from the Army Aviation Corps, two from the Indian Air Force, and a civilian chopper hired by the Army—were deployed for the mission. With clear weather aiding the final stages of the operation, the rescue mission has now officially concluded.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from ANI.