Disaster in East Java as Three Families Buried by Landslide

Tha Jakarta Globe, January 28, 2014.


A landslide triggered by heavy rains in Central Java killed one person and left five others missing, an emergency official said on Wednesday.

“The landslide happened today, Wednesday morning in Plompong village, Brebes, Central Java. Eight people who were working in a cornfield were buried in the incident,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told the Jakarta Globe.

One victim was found dead while two others sustained serious injuries. Five more victims remain buried under the mud, but Sutopo said the rescue effort had been suspended and would resume on Thursday morning.

“We had to stop the rescue because of the heavy rain and it was getting very dark at the location,” he explained.

Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, which is in the midst of its rainy season.

Heavy rain in Jakarta last month caused more than 30 deaths and forced tens of thousands of capital residents to flee their inundated homes.



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