- Rescuers are busy searching for the trapped people.
- Difficult terrain, bad weather hinder rescue operations.
- Climate change blamed for excessive rain in India, Pakistan.
At least 10 villagers were killed in a deadly landslide in India’s western Maharashtra on Thursday, while around 100 people, mainly women and children, are feared trapped after the disaster.
Officials said rescuers worked through the night to search for potentially trapped victims as they battled difficult terrain and inclement weather, while incessant rain drenched mountain slopes.
Extreme heat, wildfires, torrential rain and flooding have wreaked havoc around the world in recent days, raising new fears about the pace of climate change.
The land collapsed at midnight in the remote mountain village of Irshalwadi in the western state of Maharashtra, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mumbai, officials said.
Ten bodies were recovered and over 80 people were rescued.
State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly that it was estimated that at least 225 people lived in the village. Over 100 of them are feared trapped under the debris.
Rescue workers had to walk for about two hours with their equipment, some even with sniffer dogs, to reach the landslide site.
For about 12 hours after the disaster, they had to work in heavy rain and fog, sometimes avoiding large boulders tumbling down slopes, to search for survivors, according to a Reuters witness and media reports.
“The debris is 10 to 29 feet deep at some places,” said SB Singh, an official of the National Disaster Response Force. Indian Express Newspaper.
Recently, the death toll has skyrocketed in various countries, including India, Pakistan, South Korea and Japan, as a result of massive increases in heavy rainfall, deadly landslides and flash floods attributed to climate change.
