Uttarakhand glacier break: 15 BRO workers, hailing from Jharkhand, killed in Sumna avalanche

ANI photo

New Delhi: The search operation for workers who went missing after the avalanche in Sumna near the India-China border in Chamoli district continued on Tuesday (April 27). So far, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) recovered 15 bodies of BRO workers, all hailing from Jharkhand, from the site of the incident. 

After a post mortem of the bodies in Joshimath, they were sent to Shrinagar Garhwal Hospital for embalming by the district administration. All the bodies recovered so far have been identified, Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria said. They were all BRO workers from Jharkhand, she said.

Talks have been held with the Jharkhand government for handing over the bodies to their families and it is likely to be done by Wednesday through the BRO, she said.

The road from Malari to Sumna is being cleared of snow. The avalanche hit Sumna on Friday last week after which BRO workers engaged in a project there went missing.

"Meanwhile, three people are still missing and efforts are on to locate them," Chamoli Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi told to PTI. 

Sumna, where the avalanche occurred on Friday, is located near the confluence of the Girthigad and Kiogad, two streams that originate from the Dhauli Ganga river, which witnessed a calamitous avalanche in February, killing 80 people and leaving 126 missing.

Seven people injured in the incident are undergoing treatment. Five of them are receiving treatment at Joshimath Army Hospital while two were taken to Dehradun.