At least four workers have died and five are still missing after an avalanche in India's northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, the army said Saturday.

More than 50 people working on a highway construction site near the Mana Pass were swept away when the avalanche struck on Friday.

Rescue teams were later able to pull most of the workers from the snow, but four of them later died from their injuries.

Sniffer dogs and military helicopters have been deployed to the area to help in the search for the five who are still missing, but snowstorms and low temperatures have made their work difficult.

"Rescue operations were slow due to heavy snowfall, and the area remained inaccessible," said Kamlesh Kamal, a spokesperson for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Avalanches common in Himalayas

The army said some wounded workers had been taken to hospital or were "being prioritized for evacuation," without specifying how many.

Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the rescue teams were "continuously engaged in relief efforts."

"The government is fully committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected in this hour of crisis," he said in a post on X.

Avalanches and landslides are fairly common in the Himalayan region, which has been severely affected by climate change.

Nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand in 2021 after a huge glacier chunk fell into a river and triggered flash floods.

Edited by: Alex Berry