Landslide in South Sulawesi claims two victims

By Jupriadi and Arifudin Saeni

SINJAI, South Sulawesi (JP): Rescue workers and residents unearthed two bodies from the mud on Wednesday here after a major landslide, with the search continuing for nine missing relatives of the dead.

The bodies of Cika, 6, and Iwan, 10, were found in two separate locations.

About 1,000 people have been evacuated due to the threat of more landslides.

Cika was part of a family of eight whose home was covered by the landslide in West Sinjai subdistrict, about 370 kilometers east of the provincial capital Ujungpandang. The disaster also affected neighboring Banua village in Bone regency, where Iwan's body was found.

Rescue workers feared that Cika's father Jamari, mother Cece and siblings Hasir, Hama, Keke and Sannen and Iwan's parents Pale and Nila also were killed.

Sinjai regent Mohammad Roem said on Wednesday the landslide, which hit several villages on the slope of the Palayansari mountain, followed flooding on Saturday and Sunday.

In Bonto Salama village, a valley some 40 kilometers away from West Sinjai, the mud blanketed three square kilometers, including many hectares of paddy fields and chocolate and candynut plantations. The sea of mud was measured at a depth of 20 meters, making it difficult for rescue workers and residents to evacuate bodies of the two families.

"Some of us once tried to carry out the evacuation themselves, but they were almost submerged in the mud. We have stopped any attempts to search for the victims," village head Ambo Tang told The Jakarta Post.

He said residents were in need of more rescue workers, bulldozers and a helicopter due to the difficult terrain. Cars are restricted from the remote village, due to the absence of major roads linking the valley and West Sinjai.

"It has been four days since the disaster occurred, and nobody helps us," Ambo said. "We heard a full team of rescue workers under the direct command of provincial police chief was deployed to search for three foreigners who were drowned in Bira beach in Bulukumba regency two years ago, but they do not do the same thing here."

Some crows were seen hovering the heap of mud amid smell of corpses.

The landslide also covered a section of the road linking Sinjai and Manipi in Gowa regency.

North Sinjai and East Sinjai subdistricts were hardest hit by the flooding. Water reaching heights between one meter and two meters inundated houses and destroyed paddy fields and fish ponds.

Financial losses have yet to be calculated.

In Batu Merah Tanjung subdistrict in Ambon, Maluku, a man died after being submerged in gravel which fell from the hill where Jabal Qubais Mosque stands. Three people escaped the accident which occurred shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

Immediate repairs are needed to the mosque because of its eroding foundation.

Earth and debris covered the road to the mosque, causing traffic congestion in downtown Ambon, Antara reported.

The head of the mayoralty's public works office, Piter Mustamu, suspected that water damage to the building, including rainfall seeping from the mosque's roof, caused the gravel to fall.