At least four tribals were killed while several others trapped when a portion of a hillock crashed on their hamlet at Irshalwadi in Maharashtra's Raigad, officials said on Thursday.
Guardian Minister of Raigad, Uday Samant said that so far at least four persons have perished while 25 have been rescued.
As per initial reports, around 30-odd families lived in the village but the exact number of casualties, deaths or those still trapped is not yet known.
Raigad district administration and police, SDRF and NDRF teams have rushed to the spot and launched a massive rescue operation even as the region was lashed by heavy rain for the past three days.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reviewed the emerging situation early in the day. "The incident took place around 2230 hrs on Wednesday night and relief and rescue operations have been on since then, " said Samant.
Senior officials of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Panvel Municipal Corporation have also rushed to the site. The small village is located near the Irshalgad Fort, off the vehicle-free hill-station of Matheran, around 100-kms from Mumbai.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and inquired about the landslide caused by heavy rains in Raigad district of the state.
NDRF Teams rushed
The Home Minister also informed that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are carrying out rescue operations along with the district administration.
"Spoke to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde about the landslide caused by heavy rain in Maharashtra's Raigad. Four NDRF teams have reached the spot, and are carrying out rescue operations along with the district administration," Shah wrote in a tweet.
Reportedly, several people were killed following a landslide in a village under the Raigad district.
(With inputs from IANS)
