Raigad landslide: Death toll rises to 22 including nine members of family

Raigad landslide. Pic/Satej Shinde

On Friday, the search and rescue teams recovered six more bodies from a landslide site at Irshalwadi village in Raigad, taking the death toll in the incident to 22 while 86 persons were yet to be traced.

The deceased included nine men, as many women and four children.

"The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other government agencies suspended the rescue operation around 6 pm due to heavy rains," an NDRF official said.

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"Four teams of the NDRF will resume the operation on Saturday morning," he added.

Four children, aged between six months to four years, were among the deceased.

"Nine members of the Pardhi family, including a three-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister, died in the incident," said the NDRF official.

As per the Raigad district disaster management office, of 229 villagers, 22 were dead, ten were injured, 111 were safe and 86 persons were yet to be traced.

NDRF teams resumed search and rescue operations around 6.30 on Friday morning amid rainfall. "Villagers and relatives of the people who are feared to have been trapped under the debris also assisted them," a police official said.

"The district recorded 76 mm of average rainfall in the 24 hours till 10 am on Friday morning," Raigad collector's office said.

Amid the rising death toll in the Irshalwadi mudslide, the Maharashtra government has decided to shift residents of all landslide-prone areas in the state to safer locations, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Friday.

In a statement in the legislative assembly, Shinde said the tribal hamlet of Irshalwadi in Raigad district was not on the list of landslide-prone areas.

"A decision was taken in the cabinet today to shift people from landslide-prone areas. They will be rehabilitated and moved to a safer place permanently," Shinde said.

(with inputs from PTI)