Power restored following Belmullet landslide

Mayo County Council has said all major bridges in the vicinity of Friday night's landslide in the county are now passable with…

Mayo County Council has said all major bridges in the vicinity of Friday night's landslide in the county are now passable with care. Power has also been restored in the area of Pollathomas, near Belmullet, although emergency crews will continue working through the night.

Superintendent Tony McNamara said it was "a miracle" that nobody had been killed or seriously injured in the incident. He said several elderly people had been taken to hospital for observation after being rescued from their ordeal.

Up to 100 residents in 25 houses in Pollathomas were left isolated by the landslide that followed hours of torrential rain in the area, and some homes were damaged.

Emergency services worked throughout Saturday to relieve the situation for the isolated occupiers, but the operation was expected to last well into next week.

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The incident caused damage to a coastal road and up to five bridges and the whole area lost power and water supplies for a period.

A two-mile stretch of road was buried under around seven feet of mud, and a Garda spokesman said rebuilding the road would be a major engineering job.