Landslide in South Sulawesi claims two victims

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.