The death toll from the landslide that struck the Indonesian island of Java has risen to 53, a week after the disaster, according to rescue teams, while search operations are still ongoing for 10 missing people amidst difficult field conditions.
The landslide came as a result of heavy rains that swept through the village of Pasirlangu, southeast of the capital Jakarta, causing widespread destruction that affected more than 50 homes, and displacing approximately 650 people, while masses of mud and debris inundated entire residential areas. Thousands of rescue teams, supported by elements of the army, police, and volunteers, continue to comb through the mud in search of survivors or the bodies of the victims. The head of the local search and rescue agency, Ade Dian Permana, confirmed that the toll rose from 44 to 53 after the retrieval of new bodies identified as of Saturday. The same official explained that the improvement in weather conditions contributed relatively to accelerating the pace of the search, pointing out that ten people are still missing, while it was decided to extend rescue operations in the West Bandung region until next Friday. For its part, the Indonesian Navy announced that 23 of its elements were undergoing field training in the area before being surrounded by the landslide, without revealing additional details about their conditions. In a related context, the authorities held deforestation and logging partly responsible for exacerbating the risks of floods and landslides, recalling a similar disaster that struck the island of Sumatra late last year and claimed the lives of about 1,200 people, with the displacement of more than 240,000, due to the reduced ability of the soil to absorb rainwater. Natural disasters of this type are common in the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season, which extends from October to March, where the island of Siau this month witnessed flash floods that claimed the lives of at least 16 people.
