Landslide in Maharashtra’s Raigad: Nothing left except soil and debris, says eyewitness

MUMBAI,JULY 20: There is nothing left except soil and debris, said a distraught man whose parents were trapped under the rubble of a massive landslide at Irshalwadi village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.

The landslide, which has claimed 10 lives, occurred late Wednesday night on a hilltop in Irshalwadi where the man and his four friends used to stay at night at a school located down the hill.

Narrating the horror, the man said at around 10.30 pm on Wednesday, he was sitting in the school room and chatting with his friends when he heard a loud sound.

“I ran out of the school to save myself and later found there was a landslide which damaged our houses,” he said.

“My parents are trapped under the debris. Now, nothing is left except the soil and debris at the place of my house,” he said while fighting back tears.

Nobody was able to come out, he said.

The man also said he has a brother, who studies in a nearby ashram (residential) school, and he is yet to hear from him.

An anganwadi worker, who used to visit houses in the area, told reporters there were 45 houses at the site and 43 of them were affected by the landslide.

Five dead after landslide at village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district

There were 229 people, including 25 children up to six years of age, staying in those houses, the woman claimed, adding she was shattered by the incident.

An elderly woman, who came from a nearby village, in a choked voice said five members of her family were trapped under the debris of the landslide.

As the search and rescue operation was underway at the site, relatives of the landslide-affected people rushed to the spot to know the whereabouts of their near and dear ones.

-PTI