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posted by: Pragati Pal
Last updated: July 20, 2023, at 7:24 PM IST
NDRF canceled the search and rescue operation today amid heavy rain and the threat of more landslides. (Image/PTI)
At least 12 people were killed in the landslide that occurred late Wednesday night in the remote district of Irhalwadi, which took more than an hour to reach the nearest motorway.
Witnesses and survivors in Ershildwadi in Raigad district of Maharashtra state on Thursday recounted the horror and shock of realizing that a massive landslide had buried many of them amid torrential rains that lashed the area over the past few days.
They managed to get out of the mound of mud and rubble of household items, but the thought of piecing their lives together from here on out weighed heavily as they recounted their fate.
At least 16 people were killed in the landslide that occurred late Wednesday night in the remote district of Ershaladi, which took more than an hour to reach the nearest motorway. There was nothing left but soil and debris, said a distraught man, who had been spending long nights with four friends at a school at the foot of the hill.
The man recounted the horror. He said at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, he was sitting in the school room talking to his friends when he heard a loud sound.
I ran away from the school to save myself and found out later that there was a landslide that destroyed our homes. My parents are trapped under the rubble. Now, there is nothing left but soil and debris where my house used to be,” he said, fighting back tears. No one could come out, recounted the man, who said he had yet to hear from his brother who teaches at the school near the ashram (residential school).
A couple and their child were among those who managed to extricate themselves from the wreckage.
I was asleep when I realized we were covered in rubble and mud. “I managed to pull myself, my wife and my two children out, then we all ran for our lives,” said one man.
“It was dark and I could hear people screaming but I couldn’t understand anything because I couldn’t see what was going on. We are safe but our house was damaged.”
A woman who survived the accident also said her mind was unable to make sense for the first few moments, but she soon realized that a section of the hill along her house had collapsed.
My house was buried in a landslide. We don’t have clothes or anything to eat. I don’t know how we are going to be able to leave this horrible accident behind. My children and I have no idea how and where we are going to survive in this heavy rain.”
An old man, who came at the foot of the hill at night, said that his family, including a three-year-old child, were buried under the rubble but managed to extricate themselves. We were asleep when the landslide happened. We managed to get out of the mound of mud and run to the base of the hill.”
A worker in Anganwadi who was visiting houses in the area told reporters that there are 45 houses at the site, 43 of which have been damaged by the landslide. The woman claimed that there were 229 people, including 25 children up to the age of six, residing in those homes.
An elderly woman who came from a nearby village said in a choking voice that five members of her family were trapped under the debris of the landslide. While the search and rescue operation was underway at the site, relatives of those affected by the landslides rushed to the site to find out the whereabouts of their near and dear ones.
(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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