Maharashtra: Death Toll in Raigad Landslide Reaches 21, NDRF Search Operation On

PUNE: After rescue teams engaged at the landslide-affected Irshalwadi village in Maharashtra's Raigad district managed to recover another five bodies from the debris, the toll has climbed up to 21 on Friday, an official said.

Among the five victims whose bodies were pulled out by rescue workers since the morning on Friday, three of them were men while two were women, he said.

The official also informed that a total of four children are among the 21 deceased. The children are between the ages of 6 months to four years and also include two siblings.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) managed to resume their search and rescue operation at the site of the landslide, which is located in hilly terrain, at around 6.30 AM on Friday morning with rainfall still pounding the area. The operation was suspended overnight, said the official.

Many local villagers and relatives of the people still trapped under the debris are lending a helping hand to assist the rescue teams, he said.

The massive landslide bringing down soil and debris hit Irshalwadi, a tribal village located on a hill slope in the coastal district of Raigad, located around 80km from Mumbai, on Wednesday night. Till reports came in on Thursday, 16 people had lost their lives in the tragedy.

It was also informed that, out of the total 228 residents of the village, the bodies of 21 have been recovered, while the whereabouts of 93 residents have been traced. However, a total of 114 villagers have remained untraced. These also include people who had gone out of the village to attend a marriage or for work on rice plantations, the official said.

With no access to the remote village through a pucca road, heavy equipment like earth movers and excavators could not be brought to the site and the operation is being done manually, he said.

Bad weather had forced the NDRF personnel to stop their search and rescue operation at the landslide site on Thursday evening.

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