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)