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DEHRADUN: Rescuers recovered the eighth and final body from the site of an avalanche in a remote area of northern India, the army said Sunday, marking the end of a marathon operation in sub-zero temperatures.
More than 50 workers were submerged under snow and debris after the avalanche hit a construction camp on Friday near Mana village on the border with Tibet in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
Authorities had revised down the number of workers on site at the time of the avalanche from 55 to 54 after one worker, previously believed to be buried, was found to have safely made his way home before the avalanche hit.
The army used drone-based detection system to assist in its search operations.
Multiple drones and a rescue dog were also employed.
Construction worker Anil, who only gave his first name, recalled his rescue hours after being buried by the avalanche.
“It was if God’s angels had come to save us,” Anil, who is in his late 20s, told AFP on Sunday by phone from his hospital bed.
“The way we were engulfed in snow, we had no hope of surviving.”
Being alive now felt “like a dream,” he said.
Working on a project by the Border Roads Organization, the workers were living on site in steel containers considered stronger than tents and capable of withstanding harsh weather.
Anil said many workers were fast asleep and a few others were in makeshift toilets when the avalanche struck around 6:00 am Friday.
As the ground beneath them shook, the container in which Anil and his colleagues were in began to slide down.
“At first we did not understand what was happening but when we looked out of the window of the containers, we saw piles of snow all around,” he said.
“The roof of the containers was also slowly bending inwards.”
Everyone started screaming for help and a few men were lucky to get out of their containers.
“But not all of them made it out and they remained trapped,” he said.
His colleague Vipan Kumar thought “this was the end” when he found himself unable to move as he struggled for air under the thick layer of snow.
“I heard a loud roar, like thunder ... before I could react, everything went dark,” he told the Times of India newspaper.
At an altitude of more than 3,200 meters (10,500 feet), minimum temperatures in the area were down to minus 12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit).
Dhan Singh Bisht said his son and nephew were alive only because of the prompt action by the relief teams.
“I am grateful to them,” an overwhelmed Bisht told AFP by phone on Saturday.
Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season.
Scientists say climate change is making weather events more severe, while the increased pace of development in the fragile Himalayan regions has also heightened fears about the fallout from deforestation and construction.
In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand after a huge glacier chunk fell into a river, triggering flash floods.
And devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people and led to calls for a review of development projects in the state.

ROME: Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for more than two weeks with double pneumonia, spent a “calm night,” the Vatican said on Sunday, after reporting he was in a stable condition.
“The pope is still resting,” the Holy See said in its latest health update on the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church.
On Saturday evening, it had said the pope’s condition was “stable,” adding that he was still receiving oxygen, had no fever, had been eating, was alert and praying.
Sunday saw the Argentine, born Jorge Bergoglio, forced to miss giving in person the traditional Angelus prayer for a third straight Sunday.
Instead, the Vatican released a written text at noon in which the pontiff thanked believers for their support and prayers.
“I would like to thank you for the prayers, which rise up to the Lord from the hearts of so many faithful from many parts of the world. I feel all your affection and closeness and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people. Thank you all,” he wrote.
The pope concluded by calling for peace in addressing conflicts around the globe.
“I pray above all for peace. From here, war appears even more absurd. Let us pray for tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Kivu,” Francis wrote.
The pope’s haemodynamic parameters — those relating to the flow of blood — were also stable, and he did not have the high white-blood-cell count that often indicates an infection, the Vatican said, adding that the overall prognosis remained “reserved.”
Francis, leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis that soon developed into pneumonia in both lungs.
Last weekend, the Vatican reported he was in a “critical” condition, suffering a major respiratory attack and requiring blood transfusions, prompting widespread concern.
After a series of incremental improvements, there was more alarming news on Friday when the Vatican said Francis “presented an isolated crisis of bronchospasm which led to an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.”
“It will take doctors 24 to 48 hours to evaluate the impact” of Friday’s breathing crisis, a Vatican source said.
Andrea Ungar, professor of geriatrics at the University of Florence, told AFP on Saturday that it appeared vomit had entered the pope’s lungs, which “aggravated the pneumonia.”
Such an issue normally required a strengthening of antibiotics, ventilation and respiratory exercises, he said.
He added the pontiff would likely stay in hospital for some time — “at least 10 days” in the most optimistic scenario.
Catholics and other well-wishers around the world have been praying for the liberal reformer who has led the Church for almost 12 years.
Pilgrims have flocked to the Gemelli hospital, many leaving handwritten messages, including posters illustrated by children, and balloons bearing his image.
Francis has continued to work from the special papal suite on the hospital’s 10th floor, amid speculation about his ability to continue to lead the Church.
He has not been seen in public since the morning of his hospital admission, which is the fourth since 2021 and the longest of his papacy.
The Jesuit, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.
In 2021, he underwent colon surgery. Two years later, he had a hernia operation. He is also prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.
Francis has always left open the option of resigning if his health declined, following the example set by his predecessor, German theologian Benedict XVI, who quit in 2013.
Before his hospitalization, Francis had repeatedly said it was not yet the time — and may never be.
Yet medical experts have warned that Francis’s age and health means a sustained recovery will take time.
Francis maintains a packed schedule, particularly with the Church celebrating a Jubilee holy year this year, an event predicted to draw tens of millions of pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican.