Seven Dead in Bantar Gebang Tragedy: Timeline and Cause of Landslide

Seven people have died in the tragic landslide at Zone IV of the Bantar Gebang Waste Treatment Site (TPST) in Bekasi, West Java, with all victims now accounted for. The casualties were buried under a 50-metre-high garbage mountain that collapsed on Sunday, 8 March 2026 at 14:30 WIB.

Of 13 people at the location when the incident occurred, six were rescued alive whilst seven perished. According to Brigadier General Henik Maryanto, Head of Battalion D SAR Operations at Metro Jaya Police, rescue teams discovered the final victim in the debris zone on Monday, 9 March 2026 at 23:26 WIB. The body was immediately evacuated and transported to Police Hospital Kramat Jati for further identification.

Minister of Environment and Head of the Environmental Control Agency (KLH/BPLH) Hanif Faisol Nurofiq described the tragedy as a stark warning to Jakarta’s provincial government to immediately cease open-dumping waste management practices, which continue to endanger residents and workers. He stated that such incidents should not occur if waste management followed proper regulations. “Bantar Gebang must serve as a lesson for us all to immediately reform, for the sake of human life and environmental preservation,” Hanif said.

According to Metro Bekasi Police Chief Brigadier General Kusumo, the incident occurred suddenly. Witnesses heard residents shouting about the landslide before seeing the garbage mountain suddenly collapse, blocking the road and crushing a shop and several waste trucks.

Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung attributed the landslide to extreme rainfall that saturated the waste surface, causing it to become slippery and subsequently collapse. The rainfall on Sunday measured 264 millimetres per day, among the highest recorded in Jakarta. The water that seeped into the waste caused it to slide and collapse downward. The landslide occurred in Zone 4A at 14:30 and resulted in a 40-metre stretch of the operational road and Ciketing River being covered with waste.

In response, the Jakarta provincial government has temporarily closed Zone 4A at the Bantar Gebang facility. Two temporary locations have been prepared to receive waste from Jakarta, with waste operations continuing at Zone 3 whilst additional capacity is established at the alternative sites.