<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">At least 10 people were killed after a landslide triggered by heavy rains smashed into their village in India's Maharashtra state with dozens more feared trapped, officials said Thursday.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rescue teams were battling lashing rain in the remote, hilly and forested Raigad district, with people scrambling at mounds of earth and rubble.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, said 10 people had died in the landslide, which overwhelmed the village overnight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"More than 200 people reside there, we have rescued about 70 people so far -- out of those, 21 are injured," Fadnavis said on Thursday morning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police officer Harish Kalsekar told AFP that nearly 50 people were feared still buried under the debris.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is raining and the terrain is hilly, so heavy equipment can't be moved there," Kalsekar said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Interior Minister Amit Shah said the priority was "to evacuate people from the scene and treat the injured immediately".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India has been battered by rains since the start of the annual monsoon season in June, and flooding and landslides have killed scores of people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Monsoon rains are vital to replenishing rivers and groundwater, but the deluge also causes widespread destruction every year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Experts say climate change is increasing the number of extreme weather events around the world, with damming, deforestation and development projects in India exacerbating the human toll. BSS</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>