BANDUNG, Indonesia — Rescuers took advantage of improved weather on Sunday to continue digging through mud and debris in West Java, following a landslide that killed more than two dozen villagers and left 72 people still missing.
The landslide struck the slopes of Mount Burangrang in Pasir Langu village in the early hours of Saturday, burying approximately 34 houses under mud, rocks, and uprooted trees. About 230 residents living nearby were evacuated to government-managed shelters due to the ongoing risk of further collapse.
According to Ade Dian Permana, head of the local search and rescue office, a 250-member team recovered victims’ remains, including body parts, placing them in 14 body bags, bringing the total number recovered to 25. All remains will undergo forensic identification before being returned to their families.
Videos released by the search agency showed rescuers using farm tools and their bare hands to extract bodies from thick mud. Permana noted that heavy equipment could not be deployed due to unstable terrain, with mud piles estimated to reach five meters high, requiring teams to “move carefully.”
Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said drones and K-9 units were also being used to locate victims along the over 2-kilometer stretch of the landslide.
Visiting the area, Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka pledged that authorities would implement measures to prevent similar disasters. He urged local officials in West Bandung district to address issues of land conversion in disaster-prone areas, including ways to reduce risk.
Environmental groups have stressed that the deadly landslide was not purely a natural disaster triggered by heavy rain, but a result of years of environmental degradation and violations of land-use rules. According to Wahyudin Iwang of Walhi West Java, Saturday’s landslide reflected longstanding neglect of spatial-planning regulations in the North Bandung Area (KBU), a conservation zone spanning roughly 38,543 hectares that functions as a critical water-catchment area and environmental buffer for the densely populated Bandung Basin.
At makeshift relief centers, villagers gathered to check updated lists of the missing and await news about relatives. Rescue officials warned that further rainfall could destabilize the slope, but assured that operations would continue as long as conditions allowed.
Seasonal rains and high tides from October to April frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of over 17,000 islands, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or fertile lowlands.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
