The death toll from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India climbed to 124 Sunday, officials said, with rescuers searching for dozens more missing.
The country’s western coast has been inundated by torrential rains since Thursday, with the India Meteorological Department warning of further downpours over the next few days.
In Maharashtra state, 114 people have been killed, including more than 40 in a large landslide that hit the hillside village of Taliye, south of Mumbai, on Thursday.
Villager Jayram Mahaske, whose relatives remained trapped, told AFP that “many people were washed away as they were trying to run away” when the landslide hit.
It flattened dozens of homes in a matter of minutes, leaving just two concrete structures standing and cutting off power supply, local residents told AFP.
Rescuers were scouring the mud and debris for 99 others still missing.
“My entire team is engaged in rescue operations now,” National Disaster Response Force Inspector Rajesh Yawale, who was coordinating rescue operations in the village, told AFP Saturday.
He said many bodies were washed away, with some found stuck among trees downstream.
A dozen others were killed in two separate landslides, also south of Mumbai.
In parts of Chiplun, water levels rose to nearly 20 feet (six meters) on Thursday after 24 hours of uninterrupted rain submerged roads and homes.