Three villagers killed and one missing in Nias landslide
Three villagers killed and one missing in Nias landslide
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
A boy is missing and three people are dead after a landslide hit
the remote Loloana Gido village in Nias island on Saturday, an
official says.
Loloana Gido village head Yaaro Waruwu said three members of a
family, Hizaato Waruwu, 58, his daughter, Kaseria, 26, and
grandchild Yosua, 7, were found dead at the scene. Hizaato's son,
Yusman Waruwu, is still missing.
Yaaro said residents had saved three other members of the
family, Hizaato's wife, Felena, his daughter, Aleria Waruwu, and
grandchild Ernianti Waruwu after they had been buried in the
landslide for almost an hour.
Nias deputy regent Agus Mendrova said on Sunday police and
locals had searched for 12-year-old Yusman, for about a day but
there was no sign of him.
Agus said the size of the landslide had made it difficult for
the search team to find the missing boy and the village's remote
location meant it was impossible to send heavy machinery there
for earth moving.
"The distance from Gunung Sitoli city to the landslide scene
is about 32 kilometers. To reach the site, we had to walk about
one and a-half hours, climbing. There's no other way," Agus told
The Jakarta Post.
He said a communication problem with the village meant he only
knew about the disaster on Sunday.
"This is the first landslide following the earthquake (in
March). The landslide might have been caused by the heavy rains
in the island in the last couple of days, causing landslides in
higher ground where land structures are not yet stable after the
earthquake," Agus said.
Yaaro said residents were alerted to the landslide, which
occurred early in the morning, when they heard a thunderous sound
and stones rolled down into the village. The main landslide
occurred next, he said.
The dirt had pushed several houses, including Hizaato's, about
20 meters away from their previous locations.
Gido district head Samson P. Zai, said he had told residents
living near the landslide area to leave their villages in case
there were more slides.