Dehradun: When death was at their door in the early hours of Friday morning, 23 BRO workers had to run for their lives, clad only in vests and barefoot on ice, as they saw an avalanche thunder down on their makeshift container residence. Many workers shared their terrifying experiences. Some described how they ran barefoot through the snow to reach an empty army guest house for shelter, while others found themselves buried under snow for hours.
On 28 February, a massive avalanche near Mana in Chamoli district, located on the India-China border, left everyone shocked. On Friday, 54 laborers working for the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) were caught in the avalanche, resulting in the tragic loss of eight lives.
They pushed forward through the 5-6 feet snow
Recalling those moments, Lalit Kumar Pandit, a 28-year-old mechanic, said that he was awakened by a huge jolt and anticipated something horrendous. Without losing a single moment, he ran for his loader machine to carve a path in the 5-6 feet of snow outside but failed. Then, immediately, he and his other 22 companions left that place to reach a safe place. They had to push forward for two hours through snow and howling wind and their bodies were numbed by the cold until they reached the Border Roads Organization (BRO) camp, located around 4 km away.
Incident happened so suddenly that workers had no time to react
Vijay Pandey, one of the survivors, recounted the horrific experience. He said that they were inside a container when the avalanche occurred, sweeping the container away and leaving them buried in the snow. Out of the nine workers in the container, four have been admitted to the hospital. Manoj Bhandari, another injured worker, described how the incident happened so suddenly that they had no time to react. The heavy storm destroyed all the containers. Some workers managed to escape by running away with the loader, while others were rescued by army personnel.
Woke up next to a deceased co-worker, with his body trapped in mounds of snow
Jagbir Singh, a BRO worker, shared his ordeal of waking up next to a deceased co-worker, with his body trapped in mounds of snow. He managed to find shelter in a hotel for 25 harrowing hours, surviving on snow when thirsty and sharing a single blanket with over a dozen companions. Singh recounted how the container he was in rolled several hundred meters down due to the snowslide, causing injuries to his leg and head.
A milder snowslide that preceded the main avalanche, giving them no time to prepare
Munna Prasad from Vaishali, Bihar, recounted how snow clogged their nostrils, making it difficult to breathe until the army and ITBP teams came to their rescue. Avinash Kumar from Bihar was buried under snow with only his head visible. He was rescued by army personnel after two hours and received 29 stitches on his head. Chandrabhan from Kanpur described a milder snowslide that preceded the main avalanche, giving them no time to prepare. He escaped through an opening on top of the container.
Workers spent nearly 25 hours in sub-zero temperatures without proper clothing
Vipin Kumar from Himachal Pradesh shared how the army guest house served as a shelter for many stranded laborers who spent nearly 25 hours in sub-zero temperatures without proper clothing. Ganesh Kumar from Pithoragarh recounted how their container started moving with the snow, and they found themselves stuck in the middle of the snow until the rescue team arrived. Moreover, Vijaypal from Moradabad and his companions fell into a ditch more than a hundred meters deep. They waded through the debris of the avalanche to reach an empty army barrack, which became their lifeline for around 24 hours before being taken to safety.
All the 46 survivors are under treatment at Jyotirmath Army hospital and one critically injured has been airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh.
