60 people feared dead in hot spring mud slide<\/p>\n
Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Mojokerto, East Java<\/p>\n
Rescue teams combed through rivers and streams on Thursday to
\nsearch for survivors of Wednesday's mudslide that killed at least
\n31 people at the Pacet hot spring resort in Mojokerto, East Java.<\/p>\n
Local officials fear as many as 60 people may have died as
\ndozens of people are still missing after the calamity, which
\nenvironmentalists called a \"man-made disaster\". Hopes of finding
\nthe missing alive were fading, rescuers said.<\/p>\n
Most of those killed were women and children enjoying a
\nholiday break until disaster struck.<\/p>\n
A massive wave of mud, water and rocks triggered by three days
\nof heavy rain obliterated the resort, where scores of people were
\nbathing in the Padusan hot spring pools.<\/p>\n
Police said some of the visitors were unable to escape when
\nthe mudslide hit because there was only one exit gate.<\/p>\n
\"So far we have discovered 31 bodies,\" rescue official Andi
\nSusetyo told journalists.<\/p>\n
At least 19 of the dead have been identified. Other bodies
\nwere taken to the Dr. Sutomo public hospital in the East Java
\nprovincial capital of Surabaya for identification.<\/p>\n
Around 200 rescuers, comprising police, military, forest
\nrangers and villagers armed with picks, shovels and crowbars,
\nwere searching rivers and streams below the resort.<\/p>\n
They discovered several corpses up to 12 kilometers from the
\nsite of the accident, whose location made it difficult to bring
\nin heavy equipment and large vehicles.<\/p>\n
The rescue efforts were also hampered by huge boulders, broken
\ntree trunks and thick mud. Bad weather temporarily halted the
\nsearch for survivors at around 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
\"When the weather gets better again, we will resume the search
\nuntil night,\" Mojokerto Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sobri Efendi
\nsaid, adding that state-owned electricity company PT PLN was
\npreparing to assist in the search.<\/p>\n
The search was focused on four areas -- the hot spring pools,
\nthe waiting room, the gate and the Sumber Glagah riverbed, which
\nwere buried under rocks, mud and sand.<\/p>\n
Sobri said police dogs had been brought in to help sniff for
\nbodies at the four locations.<\/p>\n
He said the search efforts would take in a 10-kilometer
\nstretch of river and that the rescuers were expecting heavy
\nequipment to arrive to help remove rocks and sand.<\/p>\n
East Java Governor Imam Utomo arrived at the disaster site at
\n9 a.m. and ordered Mojokerto Regent Achmady to shut down the
\nPacet resort indefinitely.<\/p>\n
\"We should find another resort that is safe. Pacet is too
\nprone to disasters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite that, some 500 people gathered to watch the search
\neven after police blocked the road to the resort.<\/p>\n
The governor expressed condolences to the victims of the
\nmudslide and promised to provide them with Rp 100 million in
\nhumanitarian assistance. They would receive Rp 2 million each.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists while accompanying the governor,
\nAchmady said the Mojokerto administration would cover the medical
\ncosts of all the victims.<\/p>\n
Utomo said the deadly mudslide was purely a \"natural disaster\"
\nand warned people against blaming each other.<\/p>\n
\"It is really a disaster that we are all concerned about. No
\nneed to blame others. We have to work hard to find the missing
\nvictims,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But local environmentalists rejected the governor's claim,
\nsaying the disaster would not have occurred if forestry
\nauthorities had stopped rampant deforestation by loggers and
\nhousing developers at the resort.<\/p>\n
Syafrudin Ngulma, director of East Java's Walhi environmental
\ngroup, blamed state forestry company Perhutani, which owns the
\nresort, for ignoring illegal tree-cutting above the hot springs.<\/p>\n
\"Perhutani is responsible. It also did not inform the public
\nof an earlier landslide on Dec. 4. Police should investigate this
\nimmediately,\" he said at the scene.<\/p>\n
Syafrudin said the Dec. 4 mudslide, although much smaller,
\nfollowed the same path as the slide on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said Walhi had for years been warning Perhutani to properly
\nmanage the forest in Pacet and its surrounding areas of Tretes
\nand Trawas by halting illegal logging.<\/p>\n
\"They (Perhutani) even planted pine, teak and mahogany trees
\nin order that they could later harvest them,\" Syafrudin added.<\/p>\n
Police said there had indeed been illegal logging taking place
\nin a pine forest above the resort, which is 30 kilometers
\nsoutheast of Mojokerto.<\/p>\n
Syafrudin said Walhi would file a class action against
\nPerhutani over the calamity.<\/p>",
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