Landslides in Indonesia’s Central Java kill at least 18; dozens missing

Reuters:

JAKARTA, Nov 17- Rain-triggered landslides in two regions in Indonesia’s Central Java province last week have led to the deaths of at least 18 people, authorities said on Monday, with search operations ongoing.

A landslide in the city of Cilacap last week buried a dozen houses in Cibeunying village, the disaster mitigation agency said. Search and rescue efforts were challenging as people were buried 3 to 8 metres (10 to 25 feet) deep, it said.

The Cilacap landslide has killed at least 16 people, with 7 missing, said M Abdullah, chief of the search and rescue agency’s local division.

Excavators were deployed to dig through dirt in Cilacap, footage from news channel KompasTV showed on Monday.

Separately, two people died and 27 were missing after a landslide on Saturday in the region of Banjarnegara in Central Java, the disaster mitigation agency said on Monday. As many as 30 houses as well as farms were damaged, it said.

The Southeast Asian country’s wet season started in September and is likely to last until April, bringing a high risk of extreme rainfall and flooding, the weather agency said.