JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian rescuers on Wednesday were searching for 13 people missing after a landslide in Central Java province which killed at least 17 people, an official said.
Torrential rain in the city of Pekalongan in Central Java province caused a landslide on Tuesday and heavy rain and fog were hindering rescue efforts.
About 300 rescuers helped by police and military personnel were deployed on Wednesday morning to search for the missing people, Zulhawari Agustianto, spokesperson for local rescuers, told Reuters.
“The number of the missing people is most likely more because there was a cafe in the landslide location. We had an information that the cafe was full when the landslide happened,” he said.
The death toll rose to 17 on Tuesday.
The landslide occurred on a main road connecting Pekalongan with a tourist destination area, Dieng plateau, said Zulhawari.
Rescuers were being forced to walk around four kms (2.5 miles) to get into the site because the road was inaccessible. An excavator had been deployed to clear the mud slide.
Footage from local media showed the road and houses were buried and rice fields were covered by mud, rubble, and rocks.
Images shared by the disaster agency showed rescuers carrying victims in body bags with bamboo stretchers under thick fog from the site.
The agency warned residents that rain was expected in the next few days which could cause more landslide and flash floods.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Michael Perry)
