Heavy rains in Maharashtra’s Latur district have claimed five lives after floodwaters swept away residents and an autorickshaw. Rescue teams, including NDRF and police, recovered the bodies after a 40-hour operation. Crops and homes were severely damaged, with losses estimated at Rs 480 crore.
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With rains lashing the parts of Maharashtra the last few days, Latur is one of the districts that experienced devastating rainfall. During the early hours of Saturday, the bodies of five persons who were swept away amid heavy rains in Latur in Maharashtra were recovered after search operations. As reported by news agency PTI, the search operation lasted for almost 40 hours, officials said on Saturday.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, 27-year-old Sudershan Kerba Ghonshetty drowned in the Tirru River while returning from the fields. Later that day, five persons in an autorickshaw were swept away in strong currents as water gushed over a bridge in Jalkot taluka. Three of them were later rescued, while two others remained missing, they added, reported PTI.
While informing about the unfortunate incident, the officials asserted that. “The autorickshaw was headed to Malhipparga when the incident took place at 8pm,” as cited by news agency PTI.
One of the officials, while highlighting the unfortunate incident, said, "The bodies of Ghoshetty, autorickshaw driver Sangram Sonkamble and passenger Vitthal Gavle were recovered on Thursday after a 40-hour search. The bodies of Vaibhav Pundalik Gaikwad (24) from Udgir and Sangeeta Murhari Suryavwanshi (32) were found in Dongargaon Lake," an official said.
He further added that teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire brigade and police were involved in the rescue operations.
Amid the heavy rains taking over all of Maharashtra, Latur has been reeling under relentless rains for the past two days, damaging crops and houses. An official pegged the losses in the district at Rs 480 crore, though he added that an exact figure would be had after detailed damage assessment.
Earlier on September 16, three people had died and more than 120 were evacuated amid heavy rains in Maharashtra.
Heavy rains pounded five of eight districts in Marathwada last week, with Beed receiving the highest amount of rain at 143.7 mm, followed by Nanded with 131.6 mm and Jalna with 121.4 mm in the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning, reported PTI.
Rivers ran in spate, and low-lying areas were flooded, disrupting normal life, with Beed and Ahilyanagar being the worst affected, according to the latest updates shared by the state government on the Maharashtra rains.
(With inputs from PTI)
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