At least 170 feared dead in Indonesian landslides
Landslides triggered by monsoon rains killed or left missing more than 170 people on Indonesia’s Java island, many of them in a single village buried beneath tons of mud and rocks early today, officials said.
Villagers and police officers were desperately digging with their bare hands to try to find survivors. Two excavators were also helping shove aside earth in Sijeruk.
Some 700 people were believed to have lived in the village and nearby hamlets, said Budi Warityo, a police officer at the scene, adding that many were thought to have fled their homes hours before the landslide.
Others were at home either sleeping or performing early morning Muslim prayers when the mud and rocks tumbled down from a nearby mountain, he said.
Local officials said they had recovered 14 bodies and more than 100 others were missing and believed dead.
“We think more than 100 people may have been buried,” said Hadi Supeno, the deputy head of the regency, echoing estimates provided by hospital and local disaster response officials.
