Death toll from landslide in Indonesia’s West Java rises to 17

JAKARTA: The death toll from a landslide that hit Indonesia’s West Java province at the weekend rose to 17 on Monday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, with dozens still missing.

The landslide that hit a residential area in the Bandung Barat region early on Saturday was triggered by heavy rains starting the day before, which the weather agency warned could continue in the province and several other regions for another week.

The impacted Pasir Langu village is located in a hilly area of the province about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.

More than 30 houses were buried by the landslide, the agency said.

At least 17 people have died, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari told Reuters on Monday, with 73 still missing.

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Indonesia’s navy chief Muhammad Ali said on Monday that 23 navy officers were among those trapped.

The officers were involved in border patrol training at the time of the landslide, he said, adding that heavy equipment was not able to reach the disaster zone due to bad weather.

The agency said on Sunday that a smaller landslide together with bad weather had also hindered the search, which requires drones and heavy equipment.

Flash floods hit several parts of Indonesia last week, including West Java and Jakarta, forcing residents to flee their homes and evacuate to higher ground.

The landslide occurred two months after cyclone-induced floods and landslides on the island of Sumatra killed 1,200 people, destroyed homes and displaced over a million residents.