At least four people have died after an avalanche struck a highway construction site near India’s border with China, the Indian army said, a day after the accident left dozens of workers trapped.

The avalanche hit the Mana Pass area in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Friday, trapping 55 workers under the snow.

By Saturday, rescuers managed to pull out 50 people, but four later succumbed to their injuries, according to an army statement.

The search continues for five missing workers, with multiple rescue teams and military helicopters deployed.

The army did not specify the number of injured but said those in critical condition were being prioritised for evacuation.

Senior official Chandrashekhar Vashistha confirmed that several workers suffered serious injuries and were receiving medical treatment.

Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said some of the seriously injured were taken to the Army Hospital, Joshimath, for treatment.

“Efforts are underway to safely extract the remaining trapped workers as soon as possible,” Dhami added on X.

Many of those trapped were migrant labourers working on a highway expansion project covering a 50km (31-mile) stretch from Mana, the last Indian village before the China border, to Mana Pass.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police spokesperson Kamlesh Kamal said rescue efforts were hindered by heavy snowfall, difficult terrain, and poor visibility.

Rescuers struggled through deep snow and snowstorms to reach the workers.

Police said army doctors at the site had performed life-saving surgery on those critically injured.

Friday’s avalanche occurred as a parallel rescue effort continued for a seventh day in the southern Indian town of Nagarkurnool, where several workers are trapped in a partially collapsed tunnel.

The ecologically fragile Himalayan region, increasingly affected by global warming, is prone to avalanches and flash floods.

In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand when a huge chunk of a glacier fell into a river, triggering flash floods.

Devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people and led to calls for a review of development projects in the state.

In 2022, an avalanche killed 27 trainee mountaineers in Uttarakhand, while a glacier that burst in 2021 triggered a flash flood and left more than 200 people dead.

[Aljazeera]