India landslide death toll reaches 22, search for survivors to resume on Saturday

MUMBAI, July 21 (Reuters) – The death toll from a landslide in the western Indian state of Maharashtra rose to 22 on Friday, and six more bodies were pulled from underground layers of mud before rescue operations were suspended, disaster relief officials said.

The landslide occurred on Thursday evening in the remote mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mumbai, flattening several houses.

The hamlet is estimated to have housed at least 225 people, of whom more than 80 managed to escape. More than 100 people are believed to still be trapped under the rubble.

Atul Karwal, director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), told Reuters that rescue operations would continue on Saturday.

On Friday, news channels showed rescue teams, wearing bright orange raincoats and carrying digging tools, climbing the mountain to the site of the landslide.

Rescue operations are, however, hampered by incessant rain, poor visibility and hilly terrain, which make it impossible to move machinery to the site and slow down the work, which is being carried out manually, officials said.

Another concern is a fort at a higher elevation which has raised fears of further landslides.

“The foundations of the fort have been weakened by the rain and the landslide, so we are also monitoring that as we work to ensure that more lives are not lost in the event of another incident,” Karwal said.

Reporting by Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi and Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Angus MacSwan

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