Landslides, floods left scores dead or missing on Java (Roundup)

Dec 26, 2007, 19:32 GMT

Indonesian rescue workers carry the body of a landslide victim in Tawangmangu, Central Java, Indonesia, 26 December 2006. Landslides triggered by heavy downpours killed at least 77 people in Indonesia\'s densely populated Central Java province, officials and local media reports said. More than 12 hours of incessant rains triggered landslides in two districts of Central Java province, officials said. EPA/STR

Jakarta - Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy downpours left more than 100 dead or missing Wednesday on Indonesia's densely populated Java island, officials and local media said.

More than 12 hours of incessant rains triggered landslides and flash floods in a number of districts of Central and East Java provinces, officials said.

The landslides buried dozens of homes in seven sub-districts of Central Java's Karanganyar regency early Wednesday when most of the residents were still asleep.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his grief over the disaster and ordered Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto to lead the emergency response team.

At least 71 people were buried alive in the disaster in Karanganyar regency, said Joko Lumakso, spokesman of the local government administration.

Another 16 people were killed in landslides in nearby Wonogiri regency, pushing the death toll to at least 87 in Central Java alone.

In East Java district of Madiun, a flash flood caused a bridge to collapse while around 50 people were on the bridge. A search was under way for the missing people and presumed drowned, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

In Central Java province, rescue operations by police, military officers and volunteers were hampered by heavy rains and lack of heavy equipment, Joko Lumakso said.

The Jakarta-based MetroTV private television reported that the death toll was likely to go higher. It said the landslides had cut off roads to the affected regions.

Tawangmangu sub-district, about 500 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, was the worst affected region, where at least 37 people were buried alive by landslides, said Heru Kristianto, a rescue worker.

He added that heavy equipment was needed to recover for at least 32 residents still buried alive under tons of earth, while 34 other fatalities were reported from landslides that occurred almost simultaneously early Wednesday in other sub-districts.

'Rescue operation are now concentrated in Tawangmangu. We will continue with our search until all of the buried people are recovered,' Heru said.

In Wonogiri district, about 45 kilometres south of Karanganyar, rescue workers were working to recover the bodies of 16 people killed in landslides that took place at several villages of Tirtomoyo sub- district, said Wardjo, a worker with the local Red Cross.

Warjo, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, said incessant rains also caused floods, sweeping away several houses and damaging dozens of others.

'This is the worst landslide and flash flood disaster in 40 years,' said Warjo. In the mid-1960s thousands of homes were swept away by floods and claimed the lives of scores of people.

In the East Java district of Ngawi, rescue workers were searching for the bodies of four residents who were buried alive on Tuesday in a landslide, reported Antara News Agency.

Days of torrential rains caused rivers across Java and other islands to burst their banks, inundating tens of thousands of homes up to their rooftops and cutting off land links with East Java, Antara reported.

Indonesia has been repeatedly afflicted by deadly landslides in recent years. Environmentalists have warned that logging and a failure to reforest denuded land is to blame.

In December last year, more than 100 people were killed and more than 200,000 others were forced to flee their homes from floods and landslides in northern Sumatra island.