Mudflow in Bandung regency's Kampung Tonjong kills four
Mudflow in Bandung regency's Kampung Tonjong kills four
BANDUNG (JP): Four locals were killed as a mudflow hit remote
Kampung Tonjong village in Arjasari, Bandung regency on Tuesday
night, a witnesses said on Thursday.
The fatalities, identified as Siti Maryam, 30, her 14-year-old
daughter Nurlela and a local named Atja, 50, were found on
Wednesday floating at the edge of the Citaluktuk river about
three kilometers away from the site of the mudflow.
Later information confirmed that Maryam's three-year-old
daughter was also killed by the mudflow.
Dini Cucu Cahyani's body was found on Thursday morning about
10 kilometers from the village.
Two days of torrential rains caused the landslide that swept
away nine houses in Tonjong village at the foot of Malabar
mountain.
An eyewitness, named Yuyu, told The Jakarta Post how the
mudflow had thundered down the Cikadu river towards Kampung
Tonjong, forcing Yuyu to flee and alert the neighbors.
"I was standing in my rice field at the foot of the Malabar
mountain when I saw the walls of mud rolling down the Cikadu
river and split into two directions, one of which headed straight
toward Kampung Tonjong.
"I went straight home and warned the other villagers and I ran
to save my parents," Yuyu recalled.
The warning, however, went unnoticed by Yuyu's neighbor, Ade
Tarsa, who lost his wife and two children, only managing to save
his four younger siblings.
The mudflow also severely damaged at least 26 houses below the
mountain, namely in Kampung Muara, Bojong Pulus, Cileutik and
Pengkolan Banjaran Wetan village in Banjaran district.
At least 208 houses in the area were also flooded.
The flood eventually died down on Wednesday, but as of
Thursday afternoon local residents were still clearing the area
and digging out walls of mud engulfing their villages.
"We did not expect that the flood would arrive as mud instead
of water.
"Usually, overflow from the Citarum river causes flooding and
submerges houses in the area every year," Banjaran district chief
Bambang Budi Rahardjo said. (25/edt)