Search and rescue operation at Irshalwadi hamlet in Maharashtra's Raigad district, where a massive landslide claimed the lives of at least 22 people, resumed for the third day on Saturday as 86 villagers are yet to be traced, officials said.
The landslide at the tribal village, situated on a hill slope under Khalapur tehsil that is located around 80 km from Mumbai, occurred on Wednesday night. The death toll till Thursday evening was 16, which went up to 22 on Friday as six more bodies were recovered. The deceased included nine men, as many women and four children. Nine members of a family perished in the disaster, officials have said.
The search and rescue operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other government agencies resumed for the third day on Saturday morning, a police official said. The search operation was suspended around 6 pm on Friday due to heavy rains, an NDRF official said. Four NDRF teams and other agencies resumed the operation this morning, he said.
At least 17 of 48 houses in the village, located on a hill slope, were fully or partially buried under the landslide debris. As per the Raigad district disaster management office, of 229 village residents, 22 were dead, 10 were injured, 111 were safe and 86 persons were yet to be traced.
Of the six victims whose bodies were pulled out on Friday, three were men and three women. Four children, aged between six months to four years, are among the deceased, officials said. A three-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister are among the nine members of one family who died in the incident, they said.