Dozens of construction workers have been pulled alive from metal containers after they were trapped by a deadly Himalayan avalanche for around 36 hours, according to authorities in northern India.

The Indian army says at least 4 workers have died a day after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India's mountainous border with Tibet.

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.