Bandung: Indonesian rescuers struggled on Sunday with mounds of mud, debris and water-soaked ground, searching for dozens still missing after a landslide triggered by torrential rains the day before on the country’s main island of Java killed at least 11 people.
The predawn landslide roared down the slopes of Mount Burangrang in West Java province on Saturday, burying some 34 houses in Pasir Langu village. On Sunday, 79 people remained missing, many feared buried under tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees.
About 230 residents living near the site have been evacuated to temporary government shelters. Rescue workers retrieved two more bodies on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 11.
, according to Ade Dian Permana from the search and rescue office.
Videos released on Saturday by the country’s search and rescue agency, known as Basarnas, showed rescuers using farm tools and their bare hands to pull a mud-caked body from the ground and placing it in an orange bag to take it away for burial.
Heavy equipment and excavators were mostly idle because the ground was too soft and unstable.
“If the slope does not stabilise, crews are prepared to continue manually,” Permana said, estimating the height of the mounds of mud to be up to 5 metres (16 feet)
“Some homes are buried up to the roof level,” he added.
