Seven die in landslide, 48 declared missing
Seven die in landslide, 48 declared missing
PADANG, West Sumatra (JP): Search and rescue crews were on a
race against time on Thursday after a landslide engulfed a
residential area at the foot of Lantiak hill in Seberang
Palinggam subdistrict, South Padang, killing seven people and
leaving 48 missing under thick mud.
"I saw my neighbor who was drying clothes on a clothesline in
front of the house suddenly disappear, run over by a speeding
wall of mud," said Mansyur, one of the survivors.
He was crossing the Batang Arau River when he saw the top of
the hill collapse and bury 16 houses beneath thousands of cubic
meters of earth and mud.
As of Thursday evening rescuers had recovered the bodies of
seven people, most of them children.
The dead were identified as Eni Ramli, 35, Puput, 5, Nando, 5,
Selvi, 4, Erik, 3, 15-month-old Rifwan and an old man whose
identity remains unknown.
Hundreds of rescue workers, consisting of a team from the West
Sumatra Mobile Police Brigade, Padang Military Battalion 133 and
student volunteers, vowed to keep up the rescue effort.
There was no indication that disaster was about to strike
earlier Thursday morning.
Witnesses said the weather was fine when they suddenly heard a
thundering noise, followed by a wall of mud plunging from the top
of Lantiak hill at around 7:45 a.m.
Residents living in the foothills were known to be from the
island of Nias.
Most of the missing were women and children, with local men
having left for work when the landslide occurred.
"The houses are deeply buried in mud. Even the rooftops of the
buildings are gone. We're afraid that the victims will not
survive," Ahmad Nasir, another survivor, said.
Padang Mayor Zuiyen Rais M.S. has called on officials and
local agencies to assist in the search operations by deploying
excavation equipment to dislodge the thick mud.
Hope for survivors appeared slim.
Two mothers looked on as rescue workers methodically dug
through the earth at a painstakingly slow pace.
A woman, Butet, continued to hold out hope for her husband and
two children, who are among those believed to be buried in the
mud.
Mastur said her two children were missing along with seven
cousins who lived nearby.
The mothers went out for a walk together in the woods only
minutes before the landslide occurred.
The worst may not be over, with officials warning of further
landslides in the area in the current rainy season.
"Once the rain, occurs the mud will run down the hill fast and
cause bigger landslides which could wipe out the rest of the
houses below," Oyon Anwar, a local community leader, warned.
(28/edt)