JAKARTA: The death toll from a series of deadly landslides on Indonesia’s Java island has climbed to 30, with rescuers continuing to search for those still missing, officials said on Friday.
Heavy monsoon rains triggered a major landslide in Banjarnegara district in Central Java on Saturday, destroying at least 48 homes, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). More than 700 personnel from the military, police, rescue agencies and volunteer groups — supported by tracking dogs — have been deployed.
BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said seven more bodies were recovered, bringing the Banjarnegara toll to 10, while 18 people remain missing. Nearly 1,000 residents have been evacuated as persistent rain, waterlogging, and active underground springs threaten further slides and complicate operations.
An AFP photographer reported excavators clearing deep mud as teams dug through debris in several affected villages.
In a separate disaster, a landslide in neighbouring Cilacap district last Thursday left 20 people dead and three still missing, BNPB said.
Indonesia’s monsoon season routinely brings landslides, flash floods and disease outbreaks. Officials warn that climate change is intensifying rainfall patterns and worsening storm impacts. In Papua, flash floods and landslides have killed at least 23 people.
