RESCUE workers in western Indonesia used heavy equipment to dig out from weekend flooding and landslides that have killed at least 20 people, the national disaster agency said.
In North Sumatra, the bodies of five people listed as missing had been pulled from under a mountain of mud and debris, agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said.
“All victims have been found dead,” he said yesterday, adding that 10 people in all had been killed in a Karo district landslide.
Disaster zone: Rescuers using heavy machinery to search for victims after a landslide in Karo; (below) a girl walking through mud at the site of a landslide in Semangat Gunung Village, Karo. — AP/Reuters
Beginning Saturday, heavy rain pounded four districts across northern Sumatra, producing the deadly floods and landslides.
Juspri Nadeak, disaster chief in hardest-hit Karo district, said the discovery of victims not yet reported missing was possible.
“The landslide area provides access to hot springs, so there’s a possibility that tourists were hit by it,” he said yesterday.
“We are still cleaning up the mud and debris from the landslide while anticipating the possibility of finding more victims.”
In a village in Deli Serdang district, where four people were found dead and two more were missing, mud, logs and rocks were scattered around the village.
“The electricity was cut off and there is no cellphone reception, making it difficult for us rescuers to communicate,” said Iman Sitorus, a local search and rescue agency spokesman. — AFP
