Maharashtra: 13 bodies recovered from two landslide sites in Satara

As many as 13 bodies have been recovered from two landslide sites in Western Maharashtra's Satara district which was battered by torrential rains and some more people are still missing, a senior official said on Saturday evening. The number of bodies found at Ambeghar village, where four or five houses were buried under the rubble, rose to 11 and at least four persons were still missing, said district collector Shekhar Singh. Two bodies were found at the landslide site at Dhokawale village, while no bodies had been found yet at Mirgaon, he said.

Landslides took place at these three villages, located in Patan teshil, on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Earlier the administration had said a total of 30 persons were missing, including 16 at Ambeghar and ten at Mirgaon. The rescue operation is being carried out by local police, residents and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bansal said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had on Friday evening issued a fresh 'red alert' for Satara, forecasting "extremely heavy rainfall" in the hilly 'ghat' areas.