5 dead, many feared trapped after landslide amid incessant rains in India

NEW DELHI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- At least five persons died and many were feared trapped after a landslide, triggered by incessant rains occurred in the Raigad district of India's south-western state of Maharashtra late on Wednesday night, local media on Thursday.

According to local media reports, over 30 families are still feared trapped.

Around 46 houses of a tribal village are located in the area hit by the landslide, said the media reports and added that a total of nearly 70 people have been rescued so far while nearly 100 are still feared trapped.

A senior official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was quoted as saying that as many as four NDRF teams have been rushed to the spot to carry out rescue and relief work.

Meanwhile, amid incessant rain in several parts of the Maharashtra state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared a "Red Alert", signaling extremely heavy rains, for the Raigad district on Thursday.