The death toll from a massive landslide in Maharashtra, India, has risen to 27 on Sunday.
Rescue teams are facing challenges in the lashing rain while searching for at least 50 missing individuals.
The disaster occurred in Raigad district, approximately 100 kilometers from Mumbai, triggered by monsoon rains.
Emergency teams continue their efforts to find bodies buried under the mounds of earth and rubble.
“We’ve so far counted 27 bodies, and about 50 to 60 people are still missing, but there are multiple challenges for rescue work at the site,” Raigad official Yogesh Mhase told AFP on Sunday.
Mhase said the remote hamlet was about five kilometres from the nearest road.
“No heavy equipment can reach this site, we only have small machines and most work has to be done manually,” he added.
“Non-stop heavy rains in the region are also making the entire operation much more challenging.”
The top district official expressed little hope of finding survivors on the fourth day of rescue operations.
Reports suggest that entire families were wiped out, leaving some survivors as the sole survivors among their relatives.
India has been facing heavy rains and monsoon-related incidents since June, resulting in numerous casualties from flooding and landslides.
While monsoon rains are essential for water resources, they also lead to widespread destruction annually.
Climate change, combined with damming, deforestation, and development projects, worsens the impact of extreme weather events in India.