Nine still missing in landslide

Nine still missing in landslide

SINJAI, South Sulawesi (JP): Rescue workers blamed difficult
terrain for their failure on Thursday to unearth the bodies of
nine people still missing following a landslide early Wednesday
in Pattiro hamlet, Bonto Salama village, West Sinjai district.

In addition to two bodies pulled out of the landslide on
Wednesday and the nine people still missing, some 100 families
have been forced to evacuate the area for fear of further
landslides. Seven houses, some 60 hectares of rice fields and 80
hectares of chocolate and candlenut plantations were also damaged
in the landslide.

Dozens of kilometers of road were also damaged. Financial
losses from the landslide are estimated at Rp 4.6 billion
(approximately US$686,567).

Sinjai Regent H.M. Roem confirmed that nine people were still
missing. They have been identified as Jamari, his wife Cece and
their children Hasir, Hasma, Canni, Keke and Sanny; and Pale, his
wife Nija and their ten-year-old child. Two bodies -- Jamari and
Cece's daughter Cika and Pale and Nija's son Iwan -- were pulled
from the landslide on Wednesday.

Roem said some aid had been dispatched to the evacuees. "The
disaster coincided with floods in several areas of Sinjai."

Landslides also occurred in the districts of Central Sinjai
and Bulupodo, cutting off the road connecting Sinjai and Manipi.
No fatalities occurred in these landslides.

In Sinjai mayoralty and East Sinjai district, flood waters up
to two meters in height damaged hundreds of hectares of
fishponds. Financial losses from the floods are estimated at Rp
3.25 billion. (27/30)