1 dead, 28 missing in Indonesia landslide

JAKARTA, Indonesia (UPDATED) – At least one person was killed and 28 are feared buried after a landslide struck Indonesia, the national disaster agency said on Saturday, April 1.

A wall of mud that slammed onto houses from a hillside after heavy rainfall, damaging dozens of homes in Ponorogo district, East Java on Saturday morning.

Seventeen people were injured and sent for treatment to a local hospital, the national disaster agency spokesman said, as the military, police and volunteers worked to score the area for the missing. 

“We are still searching for 28 other missing people, but the search operation has ended for today. We will continue searching if the weather is good Sunday morning,” national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purno Nugroho told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

Local people had evacuated the village after warnings from officials, staying elsewhere during the nights, but many had returned in the mornings to work on their farms harvesting ginger.

Indonesia is often hit by landslides. 

Twelve people including 3 children died in a landslide on the holiday island of Bali last February. 

In September, almost 30 people died in devastating floods and landslides in Garut, West Java. – Rappler.com