The death toll from this week’s giant landslide in India’s (central-western) state of Maharashtra grew even heavier today, with authorities saying 27 people have died and at least 50 others are still missing.

On Thursday, monsoon rains triggered a landslide in a village in Raigad district, about 100 km from Mumbai.

“So far we have counted 27 bodies” and “50 to 60 people are still missing, but there are many problems in the rescue work at this location,” a local official told AFP.

A previous count spoke of at least 16 dead.

According to the official, Yoges Mase, it is very difficult to transport heavy construction machinery to the community as the nearest road is five kilometers away.

“No heavy equipment can reach the site, we only have small machines and most of the work has to be done manually,” he stressed.

“The heavy rains that have not stopped in the area are also making the operation” of search and rescue much more difficult, he added.

Mr Masse added that he believed that the hope of finding survivors was now slim, on the fourth day of the search operation.

According to local media, families were killed.

Since the start of India’s monsoon season in early June, floods and landslides have claimed dozens of lives.

Experts point out that climate change is multiplying extreme weather events at an international level.