10 dead, up to 200 feared trapped in India monsoon landslide

A major landslide on July 29 struck a village in western India following heavy monsoon rains, killing at least 10 people and leaving up to 200 feared trapped, an official said.

Emergency forces rushed to a remote village in Pune district of Maharashtra state, where a hill collapsed sending mud and rocks tumbling onto homes in the morning as residents were reportedly sleeping.

"Ten dead bodies have been recovered so far," said Tripti Parule, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Management Authority, in an email to AFP. "Two persons alive have been rescued. According to the district officials 150-200 (are) feared trapped," she said.

Television footage showed a chunk of hillside dramatically giving way and a cascade of mud, rocks and trees, sparking clouds of dust below.

Alok Avasthy, regional commandant at the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said the landslide had damaged about 50 houses in Malin village.

Around 300 rescue workers were deployed to the village, but ongoing rains were hampering operations, officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the loss of life as "saddening" on Twitter, while footage showed workers carrying a victim on a stretcher towards vehicles, as a crowd watched.
                      
Heavy machinery has been mobilised to try to rescue those feared trapped, while about 30 ambulances rushed to the scene, local government official Saurav Rao told the Press Trust of India news agency.

"Exact number of casualties is not known as we are moving slowly to ensure that those trapped are removed safely," Rao said.

Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh said the rescue operation was a challenge with the area 15-20 kilometres (nine to 12...