Six killed in Mumbai landslide amid monsoon rains

Heavy monsoon rains triggered a landslide in a densely populated neighbourhood in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, early Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring four others, authorities said.

The landslide struck before dawn when a section of hillside collapsed onto two or three homes in a tightly packed cluster of houses in Mumbai’s suburb of Ghatkopar, said Tanaji Kambli, a civic official.

Authorities immediately launched a rescue operation involving firefighters, police, the National Disaster Response Force and civic officials but efforts were hampered by narrow access lanes that prevented the use of heavy machinery, officials said.

Rescue teams pulled at least 10 people from the debris and rushed them to a government hospital. Six people, including two children and two teenagers, were declared dead on arrival, Tanaji said. Four others were hospitalized and were receiving treatment.

Ritu Tawde, the mayor of Mumbai, visited the area and announced monetary compensation for the families of the victims.

India’s weather department has forecast more active monsoon conditions across western India. Authorities have urged residents in flood- and landslide-prone areas to remain alert.

Mumbai, a city of more than 20 million people, receives some of its heaviest rainfall between June and September. Torrential downpours routinely inundate roads and railway lines, disrupt air and rail traffic. They trigger landslides and building collapses, particularly in crowded hillside settlements where houses are often built on unstable slopes.

Experts have long warned that rapid urbanization, construction on fragile hillsides and poor drainage have left Mumbai increasingly vulnerable to deadly monsoon-related disasters, with climate change adding to those risks, bringing heavier and more unpredictable rainfall.

-AP