Police spokesperson IG Nilesh Anand Bharne told ANI news agency that 16 workers had been rescued and moved to an army camp nearby.

The avalanche hit a camp of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Mana in Uttarakhand which shares a border with Tibet, officials say.

A senior district official, Sandeep Tiwari, told BBC Hindi that there was no information yet about whether there were fatalities.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed on X that rescue work was being carried out by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the BRO and other teams.

Ambulances and emergency teams have been dispatched, but treacherous conditions continue to pose challenges for rescuers.

Colonel Ankur Mahajan, a commander with the BRO, told the Hindustan Times newspaper that those who have been rescued are receiving treatment “but the extent of their injuries is unclear”.

Gaurav Kunwar, a former village council member of Mana, told BBC News that details of the incident were sketchy.

“No-one lives there permanently. It’s a migratory area and only labourers working on border roads stay there in the winter. There’s also some army presence there. We’ve heard that it has been raining in the area for two days. The road workers were in a camp when the avalanche hit.”

Earlier on Friday, the India Meteorological Department warned of heavy rainfall and snow in the northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

Orange alerts have also been issued for snowfall in several districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The body of the dual Brazilian-Portuguese national was found in the resort of Les Grands Montets at the foot of Mont Blanc, rescuers said.

The avalanche, which occurred around 16:35 local time (15:35 GMT), was 1km (0.6 miles) in length and 400m wide.

It was first reported that the victim was British, but the public prosecutor and the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) told the BBC on Wednesday that this had been incorrect.

The avalanche fell in an off-piste part of Les Grands Montets where the 55-year old man had been skiing.

It was spotted by a ski patrol on its way to close the area to the public, due to very poor conditions.

Rescue teams attended the scene, where the skier was pronounced dead.

PGHM told the BBC that the man’s family had been informed. It added that it had not received reports of any further casualties.

The Haute-Savoie prefecture reminded skiers and hikers to exercise caution and follow guidance amid January’s high avalanche risk.