About 150 may be trapped in landslide in India

NEW DELHI - A landslide hit a village in western India following torrential rains Wednesday, sweeping away scores of houses and burying more than 150 people, an official said.

Federal rescue workers were being hampered by continuing rains and poor roads leading to the village of Ambe in Pune district in Maharashtra state, where the landslide buried about 40 houses, said local commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh.

``There are constraints. It's a hilly area and heavy rains are still continuing,'' Deshmukh told CNN-IBN.

Residents began the work of clearing the debris, he added.

Landslides are common in the area during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September.

The Pune district about is 151 kilometers (94 miles) southeast of Mumbai, India's commercial capital. The nearest medical center is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the village.