India: 10 dead, 100 feared trapped in landslide

NEW DELHI, (Reuters): At least 10 people were killed and 100 feared trapped in western India after a landslide hit a remote mountain village on Thursday (July 20).

Rescue workers are battling bad weather and difficult terrain as they rush to rescue the 100 people still feared trapped under the debris. As of mid-afternoon Thursday, ten bodies had been recovered and more than 80 people rescued.

The land collapsed in the middle of the night in the remote mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, in the western state of Maharashtra, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mumbai, officials said. It was estimated that at least 225 people lived in the hamlet, the state’s deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, told the state assembly.

Flash floods, landslides, and accidents caused by heavy rain have killed more than 100 people in India since the onset of the monsoon season on June 1, mostly in the north which has seen 41 per cent more rain than normal, the India Meteorological Department said.