Landslide buries five students in Jambi

Landslide buries five students in Jambi

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least five elementary school students were killed on Saturday
night in a landslide that hit an area owned by a pulp company in
West Tanjung Jabung regency, Jambi province, police said on
Sunday.

West Tanjung Jabung Police are investigating as to whether
pulp company PT WKS is to blame for carelessness in its
operations that may have caused the deadly landslide at Tebing
Tinggi village, Tungkal Ulu subdistrict, Antara reported.

The disaster occurred when the children were on their home
from school and were playing close to a project site belonging to
PT WKS, the largest pulp company in Jambi.

The rainfall on Saturday evening loosened the mounds of earth
at the site and buried the five students -- Fauzan, 11, Rico, 13,
Ali Akbar, 11, Oktavianto, 12, and Bermanto, 11.

The bodies of the victims, several of whom were children of
workers at the pulp company, have been excavated and buried.

West Tanjung Jabung Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Saukie Ahmad
confirmed the disaster, but could not say whether the company
could be charged over the students' deaths.

"We are temporarily considering the case as a pure accident.
However, we are continuing to investigate possible recklessness
on the part of certain individuals or a company that may have
caused the landslide," he was quoted as saying.

PT WKS spokesman Kurniawan could not be reached for comment.

Jambi Governor Zulkifli Nurdin has yet to issue a statement on
the incident and what his administration has done or will
undertake to deal with the disaster in Tebing Tinggi, some 135
kilometers from downtown Jambi.

On Sunday evening, he apparently made a visit to an
undisclosed location outside Jambi.