Landslide in India leaves 5 dead

At least five people were killed and many were feared buried when a landslide hit a mountain village in India's western state of Maharashtra after incessant rain soaked the region, state officials said on Thursday.

The landslide occurred in the middle of the night in the mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, about 60 km from Mumbai, media said, citing officials, reports Reuters.

"A total of 48 families lived there. Around 75 people have been evacuated and five people have died so far," the state's deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, said on Twitter.

Initial reports said about 100 people were feared trapped under the debris and rescue workers were struggling in heavy rain to find survivors as relatives waited for news at the base of the mountain.

"The problem here is that at some places the rubble is almost 20 to 30 feet deep and it has to be manually removed," an unidentified rescue official told ABP Majha channel.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was at the site, told reporters it was difficult to get an exact figure on the number of people trapped.

Incessant rain has closed schools, flooded roads and disrupted trains across Maharashtra, which is India's richest state.

Schools and colleges in the financial capital of Mumbai were closed on Thursday. Some train services were suspended on Wednesday after rain lashed the city.

Several districts in the state recorded more than 100 mm of rain on Wednesday with more heavy showers expected over the next 24 hours, according to the weather department.

/MHK/