Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Gowa, South Sulawesi

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.