Padang landslide kills eleven

Padang landslide kills eleven

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post/Padang

A landslide triggered by torrential rain buried eight homes in
Padang, West Sumatra on Friday, killing 11 people and leaving at
least 14 others missing. Seven other people were injured and
admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment.

As of Friday midday, with the help of an excavator, workers
from the public works department were still digging and moving
tons of soil and debris from the neighborhood.

The storm began on Thursday afternoon as Padang was pounded by
heavy rain. The rain lasted into Friday morning and likely eroded
soil in the Gaung Hill area, which precipitated the landslide.

Some residents made it out, others did not. Yusniar, 45, who
survived the landslide, recalled how she suddenly woke up when
she heard a thunderous sound outside her house. She quickly
alerted her husband and two children and they scrambled out of
their home and ran to safety. Their swift response proved vital,
as a few seconds later, their house was quickly swallowed up by
rocks and mud. However, other neighbors were not as fortunate as
they did not get out fast enough.

The 11 fatalities were identified as Rifal, 5, Darni, 60,
Edismet, 45, Imelda, 36, Dedi, 12, Ani, 20, Mak Sani, 65, Nanda
19, Yus, 33, Ira, 25 and Tika, 3.

There is actually a history of landslide problems in the area.
Syamsul, a local resident, explained that a similar disaster
happened 10 years ago, albeit on a much smaller scale. That one
took out a house and killed six people inside.

The heavy rain since Thursday has also caused flooding in many
other parts of the city, inundating thousands of buildings. The
flooding has greatly disrupted traffic in this provincial capital
with many roads becoming impassable.

Stunned by the deadly landslide, Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar
called on people living near the hill to be on alert for further
soil erosion.

Meanwhile, as bad weather returned on Friday afternoon, a
search and rescue team called off the search. "The search and
rescue attempt has been suspended due to heavy rain. We are
afraid that if we insist on continuing the search and rescue
effort, the rescuers will be at risk of being buried by another
landslide," said Capt. Saragara, a local military commander in
charge of the search and rescue effort, as quoted by Antara. The
Army and government agencies have established several command
posts in order to help provide food and shelter for the victims
of the landslide.

Separately, West Sumatra Deputy Governor Marlis Rahman urged
residents in the area to relocate to other places due to fears
another landslide. During his visit to the area, Marlis also
handed over Rp 5 million (approximately US$500) to the
neighborhood in addition to a ton of rice.

The landslide in Padang was the second worst such disaster in
the country this year. It follows the landslide, or garbage
slide, near the Leuwigajah dump near Bandung in February when a
mammoth pile of garbage swallowed nearly 70 houses, leaving at
least 143 people dead. Deforestation and poor dump management
have been blamed as the cause of the rampant landslide in the
country.