Soldiers, police and residents fanned out across a village in Sukabumi on Tuesday, searching in the mud for possible victims of a landslide caused by torrential rain that killed at least nine people and left 34 others missing.
The landslide struck Sirnaresmi village in Sukabumi, West Java, shortly before sunset on Monday.
Pouring rain, electricity cuts, and rough roads are preventing heavy machinery from accessing the area in the Sukabumi regency, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
“Relief efforts have also been hampered by a lot of people who want to get to the disaster,” he said.
“The roads are narrow, which has caused rescue teams, logistics and ambulances to be stuck in traffic jams.”
The search operation was halted overnight but continued Tuesday morning.
Four people have been injured in the disaster and 60 others evacuated from the area, Nugroho said.
Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains near rivers.
The landslide occurred during New Year’s Eve celebrations less than two weeks after a deadly volcano and tsunami disaster.
Source: Al Jazeera
Photo: Associated Press