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Scores trapped in India landslide

July 30, 2014

Nearly 150 people are feared trapped after a landslide hit a village in western India, with a number of bodies already found. The slide was reportedly triggered by torrential rainfall.

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Indien Unwetter Regen und Überschwemmung bei Vajreswari
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Around 40 houses were buried on Wednesday following the slide in the village of Ambe, said Prabhakar Deshmukh, the local commissioner of Pune district in Maharashtra state.

A total of 17 dead bodies were recovered, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, with six people having been rescued.

S.S. Guleria, deputy inspector general of operations at the National Disaster Response Force, told Reuters news agency there were seven teams of 42 rescue workers sent to the area.

First responders were hampered by the continuing rains and poor terrain.

"There are constraints. It's a hilly area and heavy rains are still continuing," Deshmukh told CNN-IBN television.

Local residents were clearing the debris, he added.

Landslides are common in India during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Almost 6,000 people are estimated to have died last year during flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in India's northern state of Uttarakhand.

The Pune district is located 151 kilometers (94 miles) southeast of Mumbai. The nearest medical facility is around 15 kilometers from the village.

30.07.2014 DW online Karten Karussell INDIEN eng

dr/hc (AP, Reuters, AFP)