New Landslides Halt Rescue Efforts for India Village

LUCKNOW, India — Boulders and sludge roared down a hill in the northern Himalayas on Friday, burying what was left of a remote village where 202 people already were feared dead in an earlier landslide.

In a week of devastation, more than a dozen major landslides have hit the area.

Monsoon rain stopped briefly Friday for the first time in weeks, raising hopes for rescue efforts in Malpa, but four new landslides buried the mountain village under 35 feet of rocks and mud.

Army rescuers plowing through debris to look for bodies had to rush to safer positions on a nearby hill. Before the new slides, rescuers Friday had found eight more bodies. In all, 32 bodies have been found since Tuesday.

Rescuers have found 18 survivors in Malpa, said Ashok Kumar, the relief commissioner for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Five helicopters a few miles from Malpa have not been able to reach the village to ferry back the dead. Authorities plan to airlift the injured to Bareilly, the nearest big city, once the weather clears.

“Hopes of recovering more bodies have receded after the new landslides,” said R.L. Yadav, senior official in Pithoragarh near Malpa.

The earlier landslide occurred when the Kali River broke its banks, submerging the village and sweeping away a Hindu pilgrims’ campsite.