Nearly 50 construction workers in India were saved from an avalanche, which killed eight others, thanks to the metal containers they were sleeping in, according to local media reports.

An avalanche in a remote part of India killed eight road-construction workers, but the toll likely would have been much higher were it not for metal containers the workers were using as temporary housing.

Eight road construction workers died after becoming trapped under an avalanche in northern India, the Indian Army said on Sunday. Rescuers operating in several feet of snow evacuated 46 other workers. The workers were buried by the snow early on Friday in the village of Mana, in the state of Uttarakhand, as the avalanche hit their camp site.