Central Java landslide victims unaware of the danger

Central Java landslide victims unaware of the danger

Tarko Sudiarno and Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Kebumen

Rofika, 15, one of the Kebumen, Central Java landslide
survivors, said it was very dark when suddenly a very powerful
force pushed against her two-story home.

"I was sleeping on the upper floor of my house that night.
Suddenly I was thrown out of the window and seconds later I
didn't know what really happened," the junior high school student
said at the local Muhammadiyah Hospital.

She was rescued about 90 minutes after her house had
collapsed. Neighbors who rescued her said she was buried with her
head facing downward.

She has sustained serious head wounds.

The other two survivors are Mas Soleh, 60 and Sayuti, 65.

According to Rafika, she remembered clearly meeting with an
old women in her dreams. "I had just closed my eyes when she came
to me. She told me to leave the house quickly or I could be
killed. I then woke up. It was only seconds later that the
disaster occurred," she recalled.

While Rafika and the two other survivors are in the hospital,
the villager rescuers found it difficult to unearth two more
bodies believed to have been buried in the area.

Only after they had used a hoe, were the bodies of a brother
and sister, Widiatmoko, 6, and Wini Widianti, 14, recovered.

With the discovery of Widiatmoko's and Wini's bodies, all nine
people buried by the mud and debris have been unearthed.

Wini and Widiatmoko were the children of Kasidun, who was
found dead in the debris on Friday. Kasidun's wife was also
killed in the tragedy.

The landslide, which also buried four houses in Penusupan
village in the district of Sruweng, Kebumen regency, occurred on
Thursday night after hours of torrential rain.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Sunarno,
accompanied by Central Java Governor Mardiyanto and Kebumen
Regent Rustriningsih visited the accident site on Saturday.

Rustriningsih gave Rp 1 million to the relatives of the
victims, while Mardiyanto provided the landslide-hit families Rp
10 million in cash.

"We are going to carry out a feasibility study for the
relocation of people living in areas prone to landslides in
Banyumas," regent Rustriningsih said, adding that relocation
would be the best way to protect the people from the danger of
landslides in the future.

Sunarno said that his ministry was ready to help relocate the
people.

Many have expressed disappointment that the local
administration had failed to take preventive measures, as the
area in the southern part of Central Java is vulnerable to
landslides and flooding.

In October last year 36 people were buried with their houses
in the regency of Brebes and six others were killed in a
landslide in Banyumas.

In the regency of Purworejo, 15 people were killed in a
landslide in Majenang, Cilacap, also in October last year.

The latest tragedy may reflect the local administration's
ignorance, as the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) had
just issued warnings to government officials and the public about
the possibility of floods and landslides that might hit several
areas in the archipelago during the upcoming rainy season.

Observers were worried that a worse disaster could happen due
to the fact that illegal logging has been rampant in the area.

The warning signals that landslides might occur had actually
appeared hours before, local residents said.

"In the evening a heap of soil behind the mosques fell down.
We villagers cleaned it up. None of us was aware of the possible
dangers," said Tarmo, a local.

"Not long before the disaster I heard a terrible sound like a
big tree being uprooted up there. But as the electricity had
totally been cut off that night I did nothing until I was more
aware of what was happening."

The most sickening thing was probably the fact that the local
administration had planned to inform the Penusupan villagers
about the possible landslide.

"We had wanted to meet with the villagers on Friday, but the
landslide occurred one day before," Heri Prasetya, the regency
spokesman said.