Amit Shah speaks to U’khand CM, takes stock of trapped people under avalanche

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and took stock of the trapped people under an avalanche, saying the government’s priority is to safely evacuate all those who are out of reach.

Forty-one BRO workers were trapped under an avalanche near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Friday, officials said.

“Spoke to Chief Minister Shri @pushkardhami ji, DG ITBP and DG NDRF regarding the glacier burst in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. Our priority is to safely evacuate the people trapped in the accident. The local administration is engaged in rescue operations with full readiness. Two teams of NDRF are also reaching the spot soon,” Shah wrote on ‘X’ in Hindi.

The snowslide had initially buried 57 men but 16 were pulled out safely.

The avalanche buried a camp of the Border Roads Organisation between Mana and Badrinath, said Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari.

Mana, three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres.