Landslide kills two in East Kalimantan

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

A landslide after a heavy downpour, has left two people dead and buried two houses in the hill region of Lingkas in Tarakan city, East Kalimantan.

Dostian, a local resident, said that the landslide began after rain pounded the city all Sunday night and into Monday morning.

He said on Tuesday that some residents were actually aware that there were signs that a landslide was imminent following the heavy rain. Some families, including Siantono and Astinah, were attempting to evacuate from their houses due to fears of an imminent landslide.

Astinah successfully evacuated her family, but that was not the case for the Siantono family. Siantono, 41, had helped his wife and one of his children get out, but when he was attempting to get another son Upi, 5, suddenly the mud inundated his home, burying Siantono and Upi alive.

Their bodies were later recovered from the debris.

Yusuf SK, the mayor of Tarakan, expressed condolences over the deaths and said that he would give money to the ill-fated families.

Siantono was a civil servant at the customs office within the city administration.

Separately, East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna warned local residents to be more vigilant about more possible landslides and flooding in the near future after heavy rains continued to fall throughout much of the province over the past few days.

It was a cruel beginning to the rainy season in the province, following months of drought.

Earlier, the prolonged drought had contributed to the major haze problem in the province, disrupting flights and causing respiratory-related diseases for people living in the area.