JAKARTA, Jan 26 — The death toll from a landslide that hit Indonesia’s West Java province at the weekend rose to 17 today, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, with dozens still missing.
The landslide that hit a residential area in West Bandung early on Saturday was triggered by heavy rains starting the day before, which the weather agency warned could continue in the province and several other regions for another week.
The impacted Pasir Langu village is located in a hilly area of the province about 100km southeast of Jakarta. More than 30 houses were buried by the landslide, the agency said.
At least 17 people have died, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari told Reuters today, with 73 still missing.
Indonesia’s navy chief Muhammad Ali today said 23 navy officers are among those trapped.
The officers were involved in border patrol training at the time of the landslide, he said, adding that heavy equipment was not able to reach the disaster zone due to bad weather.
The agency yesterday said a smaller landslide together with bad weather had hindered the search, which requires drones and heavy equipment.
Flash floods hit several parts of Indonesia last week, including West Java and Jakarta, forcing residents to flee their homes and evacuate to higher ground.
The landslide comes two months after cyclone-induced floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra killed 1,200 people, destroyed homes and displaced over a million residents.
