At least 15 people have been found dead and two more are missing after a landslide in central Indonesia, local authorities said.
The dead and two survivors were evacuated from the area the landslide hit in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi province on Saturday evening, said local disaster agency head Sulaiman Maila yesterday.
“Two of them survived while 15 others sadly passed away,” Maila said.
“According to reports from residents, there are still two individuals reported missing, presumably buried under the landslide debris.”
Tana Toraja and its surrounding areas have been “continuously hit by heavy rainfall, especially over the past week, with hardly any stop”, he added.
The heavy rainfall eroded the soil of residential areas located on mountain slopes, leading to landslides that buried residents’ homes, he said.
The landslide impacted two villages, burying four houses, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a written statement.
Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season and the problem has been aggravated in some places by deforestation, with prolonged torrential rain causing flooding in some areas of the archipelago nation.
Last month flashfloods and landslides on Sumatra island killed at least 30 people with scores still missing.
A landslide and flooding swept away dozens of houses and destroyed a hotel near Lake Toba on Sumatra in December, killing at least two people. — AFP
