Uttarakhand avalanche: NDRF rushes 4 teams

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday said it has rushed four teams to Uttarakhand’s border district of Chamoli where 41 BRO labourers have been trapped under an avalanche.

NDRF Director General (DG) Piyush Anand told PTI that apart from these teams, another four units have been kept on standby.

“The rescue mission has been activated and the Union home minister (Amit Shah) has directed for a quick response. Four NDRF teams are being rushed (to the spot),” he said.

Officials said two of these four teams have been rushed from the regional response centre (RRC) of the NDRF located in Dehradun while the other two have been diverted from Joshimath, where they were undertaking a familiarisation exercise.

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force spokesperson said a “heavy landslide” hit a civil workers’ camp along Mana GST road at 5 am amid continuous snowfall.

“ITBP and Army rescue teams swiftly launched rescue operations, evacuating 10 injured workers who are now receiving treatment at the medical facilities of the two forces.

“Efforts are on to locate and evacuate the remaining trapped workers, despite extreme weather challenges,” the spokesperson said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, however, said 16 of the 57 labourers had been pulled out safely.

The labourers were working to clear snow near the high altitude border village of Mana in Chamoli when the avalanche hit their camp between Mana and Badrinath, according to officials.

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