Five people were killed and over 100 people feared trapped under debris in a landslide in a village near Pune city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday, local media reported.
Heavy rain is reported to be the main reason of the landslide. The flood-stricken Ambegaon village is said to be a remote one with poor connectivity. More than 150 people are feared to have been trapped when a massive section of a hillock came crashing down on a village of around 40 families near Pune early Wednesday.
Pune District Magistrate told a news channel that at least 45 houses have been buried in the landslide. He also said that there is fear of more landslides in the nearby villages.
Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams comprising over 100 members have rushed to the site and the rescue operation is on.
According to District Collector Saurav Rao, the administration has mobilized rescue machinery to pull out those trapped.
"Exact number of causalities is not known as we are moving slowly to ensure that those trapped are removed safely. About 30 ambulances have been rushed from adjoining areas to extend medical help to the victims," he said.
Till 1:00 p.m. local time, five villagers were found dead and five others were rescued alive from the debris as heavy rain hampered rescue operations.
In the past 24 hours, two western state Maharashtra and Gujarat have been lashed with torrential rains, which disrupted normal life and threw transport and train services out of gear.