12 killed in West Java landslide
12 killed in West Java landslide
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Hours before Indonesians commemorated Earth Day across the
country on Thursday, a landslide hit Bandung in West Java
following two days of rain, leaving at least 12 people dead and
three others missing.
The disaster, which occurred at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday
night, also injured 15 residents living on the slopes of Mount
Gedugan in Cililin subdistrict, some 60 kilometers west of
Bandung. Six of them sustained serious injuries.
At least 43 houses were buried or damaged in the landslide
that affected the hamlet of Walahir in Kidang Pananjung village,
Cililin.
Cililin subdistrict secretary Ikin Sodikin said the disaster
was triggered by two days of heavy rain that began on Tuesday.
The 35 hectare area on the slope where the landslide occurred,
planted with pine trees by state-owned forestry firm PT
Perhutani, was unable to absorb the heavy downpour.
But local Perhutani official Heri Puriyanto blamed the
disaster on local residents who plant cassava and corn on the
slopes of the mountain.
He said Perhutani started planting pine trees in the former
deforested area in 2000. "It's understandable that the soil is
still unstable because we have just begun reforesting."
The company immediately gave a total of Rp 10 million
(US$1,162) in aid for the families of the dead and injured
villagers.
Bandung regent Obar Sobarna, who arrived at the scene on a
motorcycle, provided rice and instant noodles for the victims,
while asking local residents to abandon their village.
The local administration plans to resettle them in an area
some seven kilometers from the Kidang Pananjung village office,
which can be accessed only on foot or by motorcycle.
This hampered police in sending in heavy equipment to help
evacuate the three missing victims -- Ence, 45, Asep, 30, and
Ajang, 70.
The search for those missing was later halted by bad weather
with rescuers planning to resume their mission on Friday.
The 12 fatalities were identified as Mahria, 50, Endah, 47,
Dadang, 15, Rus, 17, Ene, 70, Otib, 35, Titi, 65, Agus, 31,
Mamat, 22, Dede, 20, Hendri, 70 and an eight-year old child,
Neng.
The injured are receiving medical care at the Cibabat Hospital
in Cimahi and the Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung.
Euis, 40, a local villager who lost seven relatives including
her husband Ence and son Dede, said the landslides hit twice --
the first at around 9 p.m., with the second one taking place 30
minutes later, destroying 21 houses and damaging 22 others.
"During the first landslide, we all went out of the house
including me and my husband. But when my husband was trying to
pick up my son Dede who was left inside the house, the sound of
the landslide thundering down the hillside was heard and it was
dark at the time.
"And I was aware that my husband and son were dead," Euis said
in tears.
Many of the victims who were killed were those who tried to
take their valuable goods like televisions and other electronics
out of their homes after the first landslide.
Cililin is a mountainous area prone to landslides. In May
2001, five residents were killed in a similar disaster that hit
Nenggeng village.
During the rainy season landslides are common, especially in
mountainous Java island where deforestation due to illegal
logging continues unchecked.
On Jan. 4, a landslide buried alive a mother and her three
children when it destroyed their home in Majalengka regency, West
Java.
At least 15 others perished when a landslide and a flood swept
through three villages in Purworejo regency, Central Java, late
in January.
Last month, at least 10 people died and 23 others were
reported missing after being buried by a landslide in Gowa
regency, South Sulawesi.