Landslides cause more deaths in Lampung
Landslides cause more deaths in Lampung
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Landslides triggered by two days of heavy rainfall in Lampung
province in the south of Sumatra island killed at least 10
people, injured dozens of others and buried five houses on
Friday, police said.
However, data from the scene of the disaster revealed that at
least 17 bodies were discovered. The death toll is likely to rise
as scores of other villagers are still missing and feared dead.
The pre-dawn landslides occurred at two locations at Gunung
Kemala village in West Lampung district, some 350 kilometers from
the Lampung provincial capital of Bandarlampung.
"I have received a report from the local police that at least
10 people were found dead and 42 others wounded," West Lampung
Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rahmat Fudail told Antara news
agency, while visiting the devastated area.
However, he could not identify the dead as the bodies were
being removed from the scene.
The disaster also buried five houses and some of them were
swept into the Gunung Kemala River. Two other houses were
damaged.
Search and rescue workers were struggling to uncover several
victims still buried using traditional and heavy equipment.
The landslides hit following torrential rain that started on
Thursday night and continued until early Friday morning. The
rains flooded dozens of villages in the district and neighboring
areas.
The landslides and floods also cut off the road linking
Lampung with the adjacent province of Bengkulu as several bridges
were swept away. Traffic was rerouted to alternative roads.
The arrival of heavy equipment belonging to the West Lampung
public works office was delayed as trucks carrying the equipment
had to take an alternative road.
Rescue efforts were also hampered by bad weather.
Earlier this month, at least 26 people were killed when a
mudslide and flood swept thorough Padusan hot springs in the
Pacet resort in Mojokerto, East Java.
Environmentalists blamed the local office of state-owned
forestry and plantation company PT Perhutani for the Pacet
landslide as it has failed to stop deforestation and illegal
logging there.
Corruption and a weak legal system make it difficult for the
authorities to take action against errant state and private
forestry companies.
Flooding and landslides are common in Indonesia during the
rainy season, which usually lasts between November and April.
Landslides also hit South Cianjur district in West Java on
Tuesday following downpours, burying 20 meters of road and
several houses in the villages of Cimaskara and Mekarwangi in
Cibinong subdistrict. No casualties were reported, however.
In Jambi province, the local administration sent heavy
equipment to Penetai village, where a landslide crippled the road
connecting Kerinci regency to the neighboring town of Merangi.
Meanwhile, floods that started last week have inundated
hundreds of houses and thousands of hectares of farmland in the
West Kalimantan town of Sambas and Kampar regency in Riau
province.
Some 50,000 people were rendered homeless and fled to safer
areas in Kampar. However, floodwaters receded there on Friday.
"Many residents are still staying in higher areas. They are
afraid to return home because of the heavy rains," said Sobari, a
resident of Kampar.
Floods submerged at least 278 houses in Semelagi village in
West Kalimantan, where floodwaters reached the roof in several
areas.
The disaster damaged the communications system between the
provincial capital city of Pontianak and Semelagi.
In Pauh Limo district in the West Sumatra capital of Padang,
seven houses were destroyed and dozens of others damaged when
floods hit a local housing complex.