Rescue workers and desperate villagers dug through deep mud, rocks and the debris of shattered homes Thursday after a massive landslide buried a remote village in western India, killing at least 24 people and trapping more than 150, authorities said.
Two days of torrential rains triggered the landslide early Wednesday, but national rescue personnel could not reach the stricken area in Pune district of Maharashtra state for several hours because of bad roads and debris.
Rain was still hampering the effort by Thursday morning. “Everything on the mountain came down,” said Suresh Jadhav, a district official.
Alok Avasthy, a National Disaster Response Force commander, said 23 bodies had been recovered.
Large crowds of people from nearby villages reached the spot and helped rescuers in moving fallen trees and rocks with their bare hands, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
With 70 homes buried and reports of another 158 hit by the landslide, rescuers anticipated more dead in the village, home to 704 people in the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the loss of lives and said all possible efforts must be made to help the victims, according to a statement from his office.
