Landslide toll goes up to 31, hopes of finding survivors fade

Over 24 hours after a massive landslide swamped a village in Maharashtra's Pune district trapping about 160 people, rescuers have pulled out 31 bodies and eight injured from the debris so far as hopes of finding more survivors appeared to fade today.

The dead included 14 women and four children and the last of survivors was extricated from under the thick layers of mud and rock rubble last night, NDRF sources said.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had put the number of those trapped at 160 and, going by that figure, upto 121 people could still be under the massive mounds of debris.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Malin village, the scene of the tragedy in Ambegaon taluka, and announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased from the Prime Minister's relief fund. 44 houses and a temple were flattened early last morning when loosened earth from a hillside hurtled down the slopes taking large parts of the tribal village in its sweep.