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World

Thick mud, rain hamper use of sniffer dogs, life-detecting equipment after India landslide

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Chandrakant Zanjare, who said he lost 13 family members to a landslide, wails near the site where his house stood in Malin village, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. Heavy rains hampered efforts Friday by hundreds of rescue workers digging through heavy mud and debris, as the death toll from a landslide that engulfed an entire village in western India crossed 50. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (The Associated Press)

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    In this Thursday, July 31, 2014 photo, the limp hands of a victim hang as rescuers recover the body from the site of a landslide in Malin village, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Heavy rains hampered efforts Friday by hundreds of rescue workers digging through heavy mud and debris, as the death toll from a landslide that engulfed an entire village in western India crossed 50. (AP Photo/Nitin Lawate) (The Associated Press)

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    A villager watches a rescue operation sitting by his damaged house at the site of a landslide in Malin village, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. Heavy rains hampered efforts Friday by hundreds of rescue workers digging through heavy mud and debris, as the death toll from a landslide that engulfed an entire village in western India crossed 50. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (The Associated Press)

MALIN, India – Rescue workers in India say they are having trouble using sniffer dogs and equipment to detect signs of life after a landslide engulfed a village because of continuing rain and thick, heavy mud. Dozens of people are still missing.

The landslide Wednesday in Pune district of Maharashtra state killed at least 63 people. By Friday, chances of finding anyone alive were increasingly slim.

District official Shekhar Shinde said the life-saving equipment was not working well because of rain and mud 15 feet (4.5 meters) deep.

Landslides are common during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. The area around the stricken village has been deforested extensively, increasing its vulnerability to landslides.