Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Gowa, South Sulawesi

Workers rush to prevent flooding following landslide

Emergency workers at the location of Friday's landslide in South Sulawesi are rushing to prevent flooding as the local river is almost overflowing with mud and debris.

Search and rescue work in the Gowa regency was officially called off on Saturday as hopes faded of finding survivors, and at least 31 people, thought to be dead, are still under the thick mud. Only one body was found by locals on Sunday, bringing the death toll to three, police said.

The Je'nebrang river threatened to overflow on Sunday into residential areas at the foot of the Bawakaraeng mountain, where the landslide occurred.

Fearing further landslides and flooding from the slopes, some 5,500 residents living at the foot of the mountain were evacuated on Sunday. They headed for safer areas including the resort town of Malino some 15 kilometers away.

The exact cause of the landslide is still unclear. Residents have cited "an explosion" which they heard near Mount Bawakaraeng, while elderly watchmen in the area said to their knowledge the mountain was not volcanic.

According to the head of the provincial conservation office Edy Purwanto, a fault in the mountain, which had been affected by the week-long heavy rain and heat, was the likely cause of the landslide.

The slopes have become steeper, he said, with more land being turned into residential areas and plots for cultivation. The entire 364-hectare site of a forest rehabilitation project at the foot of the mountain, was destroyed in the landslide.

The body found on Sunday was that of Ibrahim, 25. It was found under the ruins of a house in the Manimbahoi village in Tinggimoncong district. Two survivors are in hospital.

Gowa regent Hasbullah Jabbar received Rp 500 million (about US$ 58.14 million) in aid including medicine from the office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla on Sunday.