Tags
|
Torrential downpours triggered a landslide on Indonesia’s main island of Java, killing at least 17 people and leaving nearly 100 others missing, with persistent rain hampering rescue efforts, officials said yesterday. |
Hundreds of rescuers were digging with shovels through mud and rubble after the landslide buried scores of houses in Jemblung village in central Java late Friday, the national disaster agency said.
The landslide swept down a hillside in the village, sparing only two houses, an AFP correspondent said.
“The rescue team have found 17 bodies,” the national disaster agency’s spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said, adding that 11 others were badly injured and rescuers were searching for 91 people still missing.
The disaster agency said that 200 rescuers and 500 volunteers had joined the search for the missing. Heavy excavation equipment was also imported into the area to speed up the rescue work, which had to be halted yesterday afternoon as fresh downpours sparked fears of more landslides.
Eyewitnesses said they heard a “thundering sound” as the ground shook when the landslide came crashing down and buried the tiny village.
“I ran carrying my daughter to higher ground, and I was crying because I could hear people calling out for help from below,” Bini, who like many Indonesians goes by one name said. Her husband and 14-year-old son are still missing. “It took just five minutes before soil and trees suddenly covered the village,” another survivor, Harno, said.
Rescue efforts have been slow because the ground was still unstable. Thousands of curious bystanders have also caused traffic jams, hampering operations.
Bad phone signal in the area have made co-ordinating rescuing efforts difficult, officials added. The search and rescue agency said that the operation would only resume once the rain stopped.
If the downpours persist, the search would resume early today, it added. “We pray to God that we can still find survivors,” said the head of central Java search and rescue agency, Agus Haryono.
Landslides triggered by heavy rains and floods are common in tropical Indonesia during the rainy season.
The national disaster agency estimates around half the country’s 250mn population lives in areas prone to landslides.
The vast Indonesian archipelago is one of the most natural-disaster-prone nations on Earth, and is also frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
