2 killed 25 missing in Maharashtra dam burst

Ratnagiri (Maharashtra): At least two persons were killed and another 25 missing after a small dam burst near Alore-Shirgaon village late on Tuesday, officials said here on Wednesday.

According to police, the Tivare Dam which had dastarted overflowing around 8 p.m. following heavy rain, reportedly breached soon after.

As the water gushed out in a flood-like situation, at least seven villages downstream were inundated, a dozen homes washed away and around two dozen people have been reported missing.

So far, the police have recovered two bodies from the water and a search is on for the remaining still untraced.

Teams of the fire brigade and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Pune and Sindhudurg, besides volunteers from nearby areas, have launched rescue operations on war footing. Top civic and police officials have rushed to the disaster spot.

The dam was built in 2000 and people in the area claim they had informed the district authorities of its leakage two years back but no repairs were carried out.

Large parts of Maharashtra have been battered with heavy rain in the past five days, and on Tuesday at least 40 people were killed in rain-related incidents across the state.