At least 16 people have been rescued from underneath the snow after rescue workers began operation to pull out those trapped following an avalanche which hit a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp near the high-altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday.

Initially, 57 workers were trapped under the snow.

The rescued workers have been sent to an Army camp near Mana village.

The condition of four rescued workers are said to be critical.

Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari confirmed the incident, stating that multiple teams were battling challenging terrain, heavy snowfall, and rain to rescue the trapped workers, reported India Today.

Deepam Seth, Uttarakhand's Director General of Police told NDTV, "57 road construction workers were stationed in the BRO camp at the time of the incident."

"The rescue operation has been underway for the last two hours. The main challenge is the bad weather. It has been snowing with strong winds...The roads are completely blocked. We have deployed snow cutters to open the road," said Seth.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he is 'saddened' by the incident.

Amit Shah Speaks With Dhami

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Dhami over the mishap.

He wrote on X: " 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," he said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued orange alert for several hilly regions including Uttarakhand and predicted heavy rainfall till Friday night.