Batangtoru Landslide: One Victim Found Dead

Joint teams from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and Police (Polri), together with the Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) of South Tapanuli Regency, located one casualty from a landslide in Lingkungan II, Kelurahan Wek I, Batangtoru District, on Tuesday, 19 May. The victim was a mother, Yasine (46), found dead at around 09:31 WIB after an intensive search using excavators, confirmed by local resident Arman Siregar (31) at the scene.

The incident occurred on Monday, 18 May, around 17:39 WIB, triggered by heavy rainfall that battered the Batangtoru sub-district. The heavy rainfall caused a slope near a drainage channel to collapse and bury two residents who were attempting to repair the clogged drainage channel.

Information on the victims: The two missing persons due to the landslide are a mother and daughter, Yasine (46) and Sariman (26). However, only the mother’s body has been recovered so far.

Based on on-site information, around 19:00 WIB on Monday night, the two were cleaning the drainage channel on the hillside to restore the flow after being obstructed by debris caused by heavy rain.

“The hill beside the drainage collapsed suddenly and buried them,” a witness at the scene said. The fairly thick soil material made the search require heavy equipment to speed up evacuation.

The terrain is muddy and there is a risk of further landslides, posing main challenges for the field officers. Local residents continue to monitor the search process, hoping the second victim is found soon.