Hillock crashes on Maharashtra village, many trapped

Pune, July 30 (IANS) Many people are feared to have been trapped when a massive sec ton of a hillock came crashing down on a village of around 50 homes near Pune early Wednesday, officials said.

The villagers, police, disaster authorities and the army were engaged in a combined relief and rescue operation.

Police official Vinod Pawar told media persons that the accident occurred in Malin village in Ambegaon tehsil of Pune, around 5 a.m., as heavy downpour loosened earth and dislodged rocks and boulders. Heavy rain has continued to lash the region over the past four days.

The estimated 150-plus villagers sleeping in their homes were caught unawares and many are feared trapped under the mud, boulders and debris, and the army has been requested to help, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Dilip Walse-Patil.

Till noon, two persons were rescued alive from the debris as a downpour hampered rescue operations.