Five killed, dozens missing in Indonesia’s C. Java landslide

By APD writer Maverick

JAKARTA, Feb. 22 (APD) — Five people were killed in a landslide that occurred on Thursday morning in Indonesia’s Central Java province regency of Brebes with 15 others declared missing in the disaster.

Number of the deaths from the disaster was feared to rise as rescuers found difficulties to search for the missing ones due to unstable ground around the disaster location.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, “The Search and Rescue (SAR) team faces problem in searching for those missing. The ground was still moving, coupled with thick vulnerable dirts covering the vast affected areas. We were yet tho be able to deploy heavy duty equipments in the searching process.”

The deadly landslide in Banjarnegara in 2014

The disaster took place earlier in the day in the farming field on Pasir Panjang village in the regency. Most of those affected by the landslide were farmers who worked in the field when the disaster stroke.

Sutopo added that 14 others were injured in the disaster.

The searching efforts to recover the missing persons were jointly carried out by personnels from provincial disaster mitigation agency office, military, police, red cross and local volunteers.

Sutopo added that two-week disaster emergency period has been imposed in the disaster so as to ease the coordination in dealing with the mitigation activities.

He called on locals for not to approach the ground around the landslide location as further landslide could possibly occur, particularly if heavy rain falls in the site.

The disaster location has been identified of prone from landslide, he added.

The landslide in Central Java has added the similar disaster that occurred in the neighboring West Java province during the ongoing rain season.

Central Java saw a deadly landslide in Banjarnegara regency in December 2014 with more than 100 ones gone missing in the disaster that took the whole village of Jemblung in the regency following a torrential rain in the location.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)