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.