Landslide buries over 2 dozen people in central Indonesia
PONOROGO, Indonesia — Rescuers on Saturday searched for more than two dozen people who were missing after a rain-triggered landslide struck a village on Indonesia’s main island of Java. One body was found before the search was suspended as rain started to fall.
The landslide hit some 23 houses and farmers harvesting ginger on a hillside in Banaran village in East Java province’s Ponorogo district, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Nugroho said the discovery of one dead victim left at least 26 villagers missing.
The local army chief, Lt. Col. Slamet Sarijanto, said that according to villagers, 38 people were buried by the landslide — 22 in their houses and 16 while harvesting ginger.