Twenty-two dead, 120 feared trapped in Indian landslides

MUMBAI, Wednesday (AFP) - At least 22 people have died and some 120 are feared trapped beneath two separate landslides in India's western state of Maharashtra following flashfloods caused by monsoon rains, police and an official said Tuesday.

The landslides occurred in Raighad district, about 170 kilometers south of the state capital Mumbai, which was drenched with more than 1,540 millimeters of rain in the past two days, police and weather officials said.

"We confirm that there are at least 22 people dead in several mudslides caused due to the flashfloods," state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told a press conference in Mumbai.

"The state has pressed emergency rescue services into operation and has taken cognisance of the damage caused," he added. Police in the state's radio control room put the number of missing feared trapped in the landslides at "more than 120".

Mumbai, meanwhile, was also waterlogged late Tuesday after being hit by the torrential rains. Water flooded on to railway tracks and halted all suburban train services, the lifeline of the city, railway officials said.

"Waterlogging disrupted life completely in Mumbai city as the rains coincided with the high tide from the sea," a weather bureau official said.