Dozens of living people were found in metal containers after an avalanche in India
Dozens of construction workers were evacuated from metal containers after burial in an avalanche in Uttarakhand, India.
Indian media reported that they survived as containers where workers live, with enough oxygen to maintain them until rescuers can dig them out.
On Friday, 54 workers were buried when the avalanche struck a building camp near the village of Mana. Eight people were killed.
The other 46 were rescued in a zero temperature operation that lasted nearly 60 hours and ended on Sunday.
Rescuers told the Indian Express newspaper that most workers working on road expansion projects were able to “bear the avalanche of damage”.
“These metal shelters saved most of them. They only have enough oxygen to last until we drive them out,” a senior rescue official told The Times of India.
The newspaper reported that the force of the avalanche threw eight metal containers and a shed into the mountains.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked the rescue team for their efforts under challenging conditions.
Members of Indian Army, National and State Disaster Response Forces and Local Governments work to use helicopters and drones to operate to release workers.
Rescue operations lasted for nearly 60 hours zero temperature [Indian Army]
Many rescued workers are being treated at hospitals in the state’s towns of Joshimas and Rishikesh.
The rescued person of Uttar Pradesh migrant worker Satyaprakash Yadav said, “The avalanche hits our containers, and hits our containers like a landslide”.
He added that when the snow hit, the container he was in broke and eventually approached the river.
He added: “We managed to leave alone and arrive at the nearby Army Hotel where we spend the night.”
Rajnish Kumar, a worker from Pithoragarh town in Uttarkhand, said most people were sleeping when the avalanche attacked.
“When the snow hit the container, it sank about 50 to 60 meters [the mountain]. The Army arrived quickly and rescued us. ” he said, he said.
Former village council member Gaurav Kunwar told the BBC on Friday that the avalanche hit rate is a “migrating zone” and there are no permanent residents.
“Only workers working on border roads stay there in winter,” he said, adding that it rained two days before the avalanche.
The Indian Meteorological Department has warned the northern states of Himaal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as Jamu and Kashmir until Tuesday.
Avalanches and landslides are common in higher parts of the Himalayas, especially in winter.
Experts say climate change makes extreme weather worse and easier to predict. Deforestation and construction in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand has also increased rapidly in recent years.
In 2021, a Himalayan glacier fell into the river, causing mountain floods and floods, killing nearly 100 people in Uttarakhand.
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