India Landslide Kills At Least 18; 150 Feared Trapped

July 30,2014


 
At least 21 people have been killed in a major landslide that hit a remote village in western India Wednesday and swept away at least 70 houses, officials said. More than 150 people are feared trapped.
National rescue personnel worked through the night using floodlights mounted on jeeps and earthmoving vehicles and rescued seven injured people, Vitthal Banot, a disaster management official, said Thursday. Their injuries are not life threatening.
However, their progress was hampered by heavy rains and bad roads leading to Ambegaon, a village in Pune district in Maharashtra state, Alok Avasthy, a National Disaster Response Force commander, told the Associated Press.
Banot said 21 bodies — 11 men and 10 women — had been recovered from under mud, rocks, trees and other debris.
"Everything on the mountain came down," said Suresh Jadhav, a district official.
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But with 70 homes buried and reports of another 158 hit by the landslide, rescuers anticipated more dead in the village, home to 704 people in the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains.
The landslide hit Wednesday morning, but details of the damage only began to trickle out several hours later. The area received 10.8 centimeters (4.25 inches) of rain Tuesday, with a heavy downpour continuing through Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the loss of lives and said all possible efforts must be made to help the victims, according to a statement from his office. He sent Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the disaster area.
About 250 disaster response personnel were in the area assisting local police and medical teams who began clearing the debris. At least 100 ambulances were also sent to the area, Jadhav said.
Large crowds of people from nearby villages were helping rescue workers move fallen trees and rocks with bare hands, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
"It is a small village and this happened very suddenly," local legislator Dilip Walse Patil told CNN-IBN TV network.
Landslides are common in the area during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September.
The Pune district about is 94 miles southeast of Mumbai, India's commercial capital. The nearest medical center is about 9 miles from the village.
"This western strip of India is typically among the wettest places in India during the summer phase of the monsoon," said weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
The monsoon season in India lasts from June to September. It's marked by periods of heavy downpours, high temperatures and humidity. Areas receive peak amounts of rain in July.  But seasonal highs are down this year, Erdman said.
"Interestingly enough, looking at India as a whole, rainfall is 25 percent below average since June 1," he said.