More than 40 construction workers were missing after an avalanche in India’s Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Friday following heavy snowfall, officials said.

The avalanche hit a construction camp in the Chamoli district, burying the workers under snow and debris.

Rescue teams dug for hours through heavy snow, Ridhim Agarwal of the state disaster relief force said in a statement, adding: “So far, 15 workers are safe while 42 are missing.”

As soon as the weather conditions improve, high-altitude rescue teams will be deployed by helicopter to the scene, she added.

Deepam Seth, the state’s top police officer, said the bad weather was hampering the rescue operations.

“It has been snowing with strong winds … The roads are completely blocked. We have deployed snow cutters to open the road,” he told broadcaster NDTV.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was “saddened” by the incident and was monitoring the rescue operations.

Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season. Scientists have shown that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.

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.

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