The death toll from last week’s deadly landslides on Indonesia’s Java island has risen to 30 as rescue teams continue searching for dozens still missing, disaster officials said.
Heavy rains triggered a landslide Saturday in Banjarnegara district, Central Java province, destroying at least 48 homes, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
More than 700 personnel, including military, police, search and rescue teams, volunteers, and tracking dogs, have been deployed to the area, BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said Thursday.
“The joint search and rescue team has found seven deceased victims of the landslide disaster... With this discovery, the death toll has risen to 10, while 18 people are still being searched for,” he said.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer saw heavy machinery digging through landslides in Banjarnegara villages as rescue teams combed through debris.
Muhari said nearly 1,000 people remain evacuated from the district and warned that the potential for subsequent landslides from rain, water puddles, and flowing springs may hamper operations.
A devastating landslide also struck three villages in the Central Java district of Cilacap last Thursday.
At least 20 people are confirmed dead and three remain missing in Cilacap, located about 74 kilometers (46 miles) from Banjarnegara, BNPB said Wednesday. Officials have not provided an update since then.
The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings landslides, flash floods, and waterborne diseases.
The National Weather Service has also warned that more heavy rain is expected across several regions in the coming weeks.
Climate change has affected storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding, and stronger wind gusts.
Flash floods and landslides in a remote area of Papua in eastern Indonesia have killed at least 23 people, Muhari said.
