MUMBAI, July 27: Floods and landslides killed about 140 people in western India on Wednesday, and scores more were feared dead after a wall of mud flattened a village. Thousands of people were evacuated and tens of thousands more were stranded as floodwaters raged throughout the financial capital, Mumbai, bringing road, rail and air links to a halt. Mumbai saw the highest rain in one day (944.2 mm or 37 inches.

Rescue teams reached the village of Juigaon, 150km south of Mumbai, and began digging for survivors and bodies after a landslide flattened or buried more than 30 houses late on Tuesday. Officials estimated 100 to 150 people may have been caught in the avalanche of mud.

“The death toll is likely to increase because we are receiving more reports of deaths from different parts and we have a major landslide,” Krishna Vatsa, the state relief secretary, told Reuters.

“In Jui we are estimating about 100 but information is still coming in.” Vatsa said the total death toll elsewhere in Maharashtra state was about 140, including 40 killed in Mumbai.

The army, navy and air force were called in to help as floodwaters swept the Maharashtra coast. A report from New Delhi said at least three workers were confirmed killed and 45 others were missing after a major fire engulfed an Indian oil platform in the Arabian Sea, Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said. The minister said 385 people had been on the platform when it caught fire.—Agencies