NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian rescuers have called off a search for survivors of a landslide that hit a village in the western state of Maharashtra on Thursday, killing at least 27 people, an official said.

       "They have been called off and closed" the operation, S.B. Singh, of the National Disaster Response Force, told Reuters on Sunday, adding that more than 50 people were still missing.

       The landslide hit the mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mumbai, flattening several houses. The village is estimated to have been home to at least 225 people, more than 80 of whom managed to escape.

       (Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi)