Scores trapped in India landslide

Five people dead after monsoon rains in Maharashtra state trigger mudslide, trapping up to 150 people, officials say.

A rescue official said 50 houses were damaged in the mudslide [AFP]

A landslide in India’s western Maharastra state has trapped up to 150 people and killed at least five following heavy monsoon rains.

More than 200 rescue workers and heavy machinery were deployed to try to rescue those feared trapped in Malin village, local officials said.

“Five bodies have been recovered and 125 to 150 are still trapped,” Satish Lalit, a spokesman for the Maharashtra chief minister’s office, told the AFP news agency.

More rain was expected on Wednesday, threatening to make rescue efforts difficult and increase the chances of more landslides.

Television footage showed the side of a hill shaved off, with large amounts of mud, muddy water and logs piled below.

A rescue official said 50 houses were damaged.

Malin village, in Pune district, is near a pilgrimage temple popular with tourists.

Heavy rains have been falling for days in Maharashtra as a result of the annual monsoon.

Almost 6,000 people are presumed to have died during flash floods and landslides started by last year’s monsoon rains in the northern India state of Uttarakhand.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies