Magelang landslide kills two workers
Slamet Susanto, Magelang
Two out of 11 laborers constructing an embankment were buried alive by a landslide in Kragilan village in Magelang regency, Central Java, on Thursday.
The bodies of Sutoyo, 38, and Rebi, 36, were recovered after almost three hours of excavating.
The disaster occurred at 8 a.m. when the 11 workers were building an embarkment to prevent erosion and landslides at the Gejakan River in Kragilan, Pakis district.
But a seven-meter-high cliff suddenly collapsed and buried two of the construction workers, witnesses and survivors said.
The embarkment project, worth Rp 113 million (US$12,555), has been contracted to CV Lintang Gemilang by the Magelang administration.
The workers screamed out for help, and most of them managed to escape the landslide, except for the two, both residents of neighboring Kwiden village.
Sutoyo and Rebi failed to escape as they were working closest to the cliff face.
Karnain, 40, one of the laborers, said the landslide struck three days after heavy rain in several parts of Magelang, including Kragilan.
The rain made the earth unstable, he added.
"Today (Thursday) was the 15th day of construction. When we were laying the foundation, the landslide suddenly struck. There was a thunderous noise when the soil moved very quickly," Karnain recalled.
"Luckily, I managed to flee but two others failed to escape," he cried.
Some of the nine survivors -- Jumakhir, Kamiso, Suyanto, Bedok, Karnain, Hardi, Slamet, Bolot and Subadi -- were treated at a local health community center for slight injuries.
The Magelang administration gave 100 kilograms of rice and packages of instant noodles in assistance to the bereaved families of the two dead victims.
Similar assistance also came from CV Lintang Gemilang, which provided the families with Rp 500,000 each.
Landslides often hit during the wet season, and are largely blamed on deforestation due to unchecked illegal logging. This year's rainy season is almost over in most parts of the country.
Last April, a landslide killed at least 12 people and left three others missing in Cililin, 60 kilometers west of Bandung, West Java.
Days later, 42 people perished when their passenger bus was swept away in a landslide while traveling along the Ujung Gading- Panti road that connects Padang and Medan on Sumatra island.