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Search and rescue teams on Friday recovered six more bodies from the site of the landslide in Ershalwadi village in Raigad district of Maharashtra state, raising the death toll in the accident to 22 while 86 people are yet to be traced, officials said.
Among the dead were nine men, women and four children. Nine family members were killed in the disaster that struck on Wednesday night.
An official with the National Emergency Force said the National Disaster Response Force and other government agencies halted the rescue operation around 6 p.m. due to heavy rain. He added that four teams from the UAE National Front would resume the operation on Saturday morning.
Among the six victims whose bodies were recovered on Friday were three men and three women. Among the dead were four children, aged between six months and four years.
Nine members of the Bardi family died in the accident, including a three-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister. Three livestock died in the accident, while 21 head of cattle were rescued.
According to Raigad district disaster management office, out of 229 villagers, 22 people were killed, ten were injured, 111 were safe and 86 people are yet to be traced. However, some of them left the village to attend a wedding while some were out working in the rice plantations at the time of the accident.
The landslide hit the hillside tribal village of Khalapur Tsil in Raigad coastal district, about 80 km from Mumbai, at around 10:30 pm on July 19. At least 17 of the 48 houses in the village were completely or partially buried under the rubble.
NDRF teams resumed search and rescue operations around 6.30am on Friday amidst the downpour. A police official said they were also helped by villagers and relatives of people who were feared to be trapped under the rubble.
Officials said the village, which is overlooked by the Irshalaqd fort and is a popular trekking destination, has no Boca road, earthmoving diggers and diggers cannot be moved easily, and rescue operations are carried out manually.
Kalapur and Karjat Tehsils in Raigad district witnessed heavy rains on Wednesday and Thursday.
Landslides were also reported in Daur Nagar in Oran and Chilat and Ophil in Panvel Tehsil of the district in the past three days but there were no injuries.
On July 22, 2021, a massive landslide in Thalia village in Mahad Tehsil, Raigad district killed 87 people.
Jami Raigad office said the district recorded 76 millimeters of average rainfall in the 24 hours till 10 am on Friday morning.
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