200 feared dead in landslide
2006-01-04 09:02
Jakarta - A landslide unleashed by heavy rains in Indonesia's mountainous Central Java on Wednesday was feared to have left some 200 people dead, police said as rescuers scrambled to search for survivors.
A torrent of mud slammed into up to 120 homes in the village of Cijeruk, 370km east of the capital Jakarta, as some people had already left their homes to pray at a nearby mosque before dawn, police said.
"We suspect there are about 200 people in 120 houses buried in the mud," local chief of police operations Budi said, adding that about 150 police and soldiers were at the scene carrying out rescue operations.
He said some residents of the hillside village were at the mosque, which was unscathed, for morning prayers when the disaster struck.
Earlier, local welfare official Nur Indah said that about 160 people were thought to be buried in 80 homes.
"Residents living at the foot of Mount Raja... heard a thundering sound before earth caved in," she said.
Road unstable, subsided
Budi said the landslide hit at about 05:00 after three days of heavy monsoon rains.
"So far we have received information that three people are dead and 13 injured," a policeman at Banjar Negara district station, Subroto, said.
The injured were taken to the district's general hospital, he said.
Banjar Negara deputy police chief Gusti Indra Cahyadi told the online Detikcom news agency that the road leading to the village had been damaged, hampering efforts to bring in heavy rescue equipment.
"The road is unstable and subsided, making it very difficult for heavy equipment to reach the area," he was quoted as saying.
He said the area was prone to landslides during the rainy season.
"There have been many landslides but in the past only 10 houses were hit at the most," he said.
The landslide came as rescuers continued to sift through debris and mud in the aftermath of flash floods in East Java province which have killed at least 57 people and left thousands homeless.
"The evacuation of bodies is still continuing. Twenty bodies are still at the scene but have been included in the tally. We will use a helicopter if land transport isn't possible," Teduh Tedjo, who is coordinating police rescue efforts, said.
Misdarno, from the disaster coordinating centre in East Java's capital Surabaya, said the death toll was still at 57 but 17 more people were listed as missing.