At least 36 people have died in a landslide near a village in the coastal Raigad district of Maharashtra as heavy rainfall over the last two days has caused flooding in parts of the coastal region and hit road and rail traffic.

The death toll in three separate incidents of landslides in Mahad tehsil, which took place on Thursday, is likely to rise, police said. 

While 32 bodies were found in one spot in Talai, four others were recovered from another location in Sakharsutarwadi village. Fifteen people have been reportedly rescued so far, but over 30 to 35 more are feared trapped under the debris, officials say.

A team of NDRF has reached Mahad, around 160 km from Mumbai, and another will reach there soon, an official said. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is reviewing the situation, he added.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took stock of the situation and spoke with local authorities on Friday.

11 rescued from bus in Kolhapur

Meanwhile, 11 people on board a bus had a narrow escape as they were rescued just before the vehicle got washed away into a river in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra early on Friday.

The incident occurred around 2.30 am at Pangire village in Bhudargad tehsil when the bus driver, despite being asked by the police and the PWD personnel not to go ahead, drove the vehicle over a bridge even as the water of the Chikodi river was flowing above it, they said.

“The PWD officials had intercepted the Nashik-bound bus before the bridge. However, its driver did not listen to them and went ahead on the bridge. But the police staff ran towards the bus and evacuated all the 11 people on board,” an official from Bhudargad police station said.

The water was flowing with strong force, due to which the bus fell off the bridge and got stuck in water before being swept away by the strong currents, he said.

This comes a day after nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Ratnagiri district were suspended after a river overflowed following heavy rains.