MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) – The death toll from the landslide in one of the central states of India reached 19 people with another 140 still trapped underground, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday citing local health department officials.
«We have removed 19 bodies. We expect about 140 more to come considering 44 houses were buried," Handini Chavan, deputy director of health of the affected Pune district was quoted as saying.
«The majority of deaths are due to the crush-load of rubble which has buried the village," the official added.
It was earlier reported that the landslide claimed lives of ten people.
The incident happened in one of the villages in the state of Maharashtra, Pune district. A major landslide caused by the heavy rains in the region destroyed nearly 40 houses.
India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent almost 400 rescuers to the site. Local hospitals are on high alert regime as the authorities warn about the growing number of victims.
