Uttarakhand avalanche LIVE: Toll climbs to 8 as Army recovers last missing worker's body

Two days after a devastating avalanche hit BRO camp at Mana village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, Indian Army recovered the body of the last missing worker, news agency ANI quoted Army officials as saying on Sunday (March 2).

With this, the death toll in the avalanche has gone up to eight. The bodies recovered on Sunday are being brought to Mana post as per PRO (Defence), Dehradun.

Addressing the media, Lt Col Manish Shrivastava, PRO (Defence) Dehradun said, as quoted by ANI, “The last missing person's body has been found. All the 54 persons have been rescued/recovered. The recovery marks the culmination of Mana Village Rescue Operation.”

Earlier, the number of avalanche-hit labourers had been revised now from 55 to 54. According to the latest updates provided by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), one of the missing labourers — Sunil Kumar from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh — had gone home without telling his employers. He has reached home safely.

What is an avalanche and how does it happen? Read up all the details here

The avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5.30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army. Of them, 33 were rescued by Friday night and 17 on Saturday.

Located 3 km from Badrinath, Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres. Rain and snowfall hampered the rescue efforts on Friday and the operation was suspended as night fell. As the weather cleared up on Saturday morning, the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel based in Mana resumed the rescue operation.

The deceased were identified as Mohindra Pal and Jitendra Singh from Himachal Pradesh, Manjit Yadav from Uttar Pradesh and Alok Yadav from Uttarakhand, the USDMA said.

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